


GOOD INTENTIONS & DIRE CONSEQUENCES - 2 -

by jezalex



Category: Original Work
Genre: Childhood Trauma, F/F, F/M, Love lost and found, M/M, Regency Romance, Religious Fanaticism, Slavery, learning to live in peace time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:00:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 21
Words: 182,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26426044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jezalex/pseuds/jezalex
Summary: Rear-Admiral Yannick Mersac, known as Mr. Ian Kermor, is well-loved by all in and around his Cornish estate. He has spent the last year coming to terms with the devastating loss of his lover, Hadrian. His children have been a great help to him, especially young Nicky who has such needs of love and comfort. But Yannick is no monk and one morning on the beach he meets a man who unexpectedly wakes up his desire.As he allows himself to believe that he might have another chance at happiness, trouble comes from the past and from his children, first from his daughter Charley and then from Meredith's own mysterious past.
Relationships: Complicated Relationship - Relationship, family history - Relationship





	1. Ethan

Dr. Ethan Treeve collected his bag from the stagecoach which had stopped at the Posting house situated near the intersection of the road to Falmouth and the smaller road leading down to the coastal village of Porthdowns. He had about a mile to walk before reaching the village, too late to change his mind now, he had to keep going and that was that.   
The tavern was situated on the quays and was open as usual. Ethan knew that it opened from early morning to late at night every day of the year except Sundays, Christmas, and Easter Sunday. He wondered if his father would be behind the bar as he had been during the 14 years that Ethan had lived there with his mother, elder brother, Samuel, and younger sister Daisy.   
His father had been a hard-working man who had expected his wife and children to do as they were told and work without questions. Samuel, Ethan’s brother, was 3 years older than he was and cut from the same cloth than their father. Ethan never really got on with him. He did his share of work in the pub, but it did not satisfy him. He wanted to learn, he read any book he managed to get his hands on much to his father’s dislike. Old Samuel did not see the point in reading. Life was moving beer barrels, cleaning floors, serving beer, and none of those lazy useless occupations like reading.  
Ethan had felt trapped, felt that he did not belong in this world surrounded by loud men drinking and making lewd jokes at women. He could not understand why his father tolerated them looking lustily at his wife’s bosom as she served beer and could only dread the day when his little sister Daisy would be old enough to work in the taproom like her mother. He was sure that her father would make her, he had already hinted at it and she was only 11.  
The other reason why Ethan had felt out of place was because he did not feel attracted to girls the way his brother and his friends were. His life had changed after he had experienced an embarrassing moment once when he had been messing about in the weir just above the village with the other boys. They were naked in the water splashing each other in mock fighting when Ethan’s cock had hardened while wrestling with his best friend on the bank. John had pushed him off roughly, offended by the feel of Ethan hard against his hip.   
Ethan had not chosen his friend wisely. John told the other boys what had happened and in a small village like Porthdowns, rumours soon spread that Old Samuel’s second son was a molly. Of course, it eventually reached the ears of Old Samuel and his elder son and Ethan was given the beating of his life. When Ethan recovered enough to walk later that night, he ran away, he had no other option, the slur would stick to him for life and his father would never let him forget it.

And now 25 years after running away, Ethan was back in Porthdowns. He had sent his mother a letter some weeks after leaving the village to tell her that he had joined the navy but she had not written back. He had not written again. He was not even sure that his parents were still alive.   
He walked in the taproom and asked for a drink of ale at the bar. He did not recognize the man who was serving. He also asked if they had vacancies for a few nights. The man said, yes, he could have a room if he wished. Ethan asked the price, agreed, and paid for 2 nights in advance. He then finished his drink, looking around for familiar faces. He recognized 2 of his old friends at a table but they hardly looked at him although he was sure that his presence intrigued them.  
Ethan was well dressed in buff-coloured pants tucked into expensive black boots. His navy-blue coat was well cut and made to measure for his broad shoulders. His cravat was immaculate, and he wore a hat. He had a large good quality bag and a satchel with him. As he was above average height, he made quite an impression in the little village pub.   
The barman, noticing that his glass was empty, asked him if he would like to see his room. Ethan nodded, and the man called out to the kitchen for Daisy.   
‘My wife,’ he explained, ‘she will show you the room, sir, and bring you hot water,’  
Daisy came in; the pretty young girl he remembered was now a 36-year-old woman who had kept a good figure and was smiling at him. She did not seem to recognize him. The barman, her husband, suddenly remembered that he had not asked for the guest’s name. He did so as he handed the key to a room to his wife:   
‘Doctor Ethan Treeve.’  
An eerie silence crept in the taproom. Ethan felt that all eyes were now on him. Daisy watched the stranger’s face intently, looking for features that would remind her of the brother she had last seen 25 years ago when she was only 11. Ethan took his hat off, letting her see his pale blond hair, so like hers; they also shared the soft grey eyes inherited from their mother. She smiled and hugged him awkwardly after a slight hesitation. He hugged her back, her gesture touched him, up to that moment he had been wondering if coming back here was such a good idea after all, his sister’s welcome dissipated his apprehension.  
She linked her arm firmly into his and led him towards the stairs. He hardly had time to pick up his bag from the floor. She did not speak until they were both in the bedroom with the door closed behind them.

‘Now look at you,’ she said, taking a real good look up and down at him, ‘you look splendid, just like quality, did you say Doctor Treeve, Brother? Have you made your fortune overseas?’ Ethan grinned,   
‘No, not fortune, sorry to disappoint you, but I am comfortable with a good profession. Give me news of the family please, is your husband running the pub now?’   
Daisy sighed, and she sat down on the chair set at the table near the window, Ethan sat on the bed.  
‘Ma died 3 years after you left, she caught a fever one winter and passed away very quickly. Pa’s temper got even worse after she’d gone if you can imagine it. He’s still around and pretending to be boss, but he leaves us to run the place as we want really. Samuel got fed up with working under Pa’s thumb; Pa was never happy, you see, and Sam started to rebel and got in with a bad lot. He left home for a few months and only just escaped prison by a stroke of luck and that sobered him up. He is back now, and he is working here with my husband Matthew. I met Matthew at Truro fair when I was 15. We married the same year, had to if you understand my meaning. He is a good man, he and Sam became friends and they presented a front, like, to Pa who had to let go a little. Sam has married Bess, the daughter of Tamzin and Simon, the housekeepers up at the manor. They have 4 children. Mat and I have 3, a boy and 2 girls. The tavern is doing well, we are letting rooms now and we are serving food all day. Bess is an excellent cook. I look after the rooms and serve in the taproom. We’ve had a few hard years, but all is well now. What about you? Ma said you wrote to her and that you joined the navy. I know she did not write back, Pa forbid her to, he said she had to think of you as being dead now. Your name was never spoken again, but before she died, she made me promise that if you ever came back I was to tell you that she never stopped loving you.’  
Ethan let a few minutes go by before he spoke. He now understood why his mother had not answered his letter. He had never forgiven his father and his brother for the terrible beating they had given him for something he now knew was a perfectly natural human function. He was even less inclined to forgive them now knowing that it was their fault if he had not heard from his mother all those years ago.

‘As you know, I joined the navy. I was just a simple tar at first then I was employed by the ship’s surgeon as a loblolly boy for several years and then promoted to surgeon’s mate. At the battle of Trafalgar, I found myself left in charge of the wounded after the ship’s surgeon had been killed. I saved my captain’s life and his leg and because he was impressed by what I had done, he sponsored me and sent me to St Andrews University in Scotland to become a physician, which I did. I like surgery best and I have worked for the last 3 years at St Thomas Hospital in London. My captain was the best of men, he had not been blessed with children and it was a great sorrow for him and his wife. I was not the only young man he helped financially to allow them to move up in life. He died 6 months ago, not long after his wife had passed away. I was with him when he died, and it was he who encouraged me to visit here. I must admit that I hesitated a long time before deciding to come.’  
Daisy’s eyes had opened wide on learning that his brother was a physician. Samuel and herself had learnt to read, write, and count, but their father had not encouraged them to learn anymore, so they had contented themselves with the basics needed to run a public house.

Ethan asked questions about the people he had known as a child, he remarked that the village looked a happier place to live in than in his youth, he had seen that it was well kept with the cottages in a good state of repair. He had also noticed the new buildings by the docks a little further away from the main village.   
Daisy told him the story of the new owner of the estate who had got them all out of dire poverty when he had inherited. Ethan loved the story of how the new landlord had come to own the estate after his aunt had won it in a card game. As a youth Ethan had never liked the haughty lord of the manor, so he was not sorry for his loss. They had been lucky that the estate was not entailed and therefore could change hands easily.  
Then Daisy got up, ‘I better let you settle down, I must return and help Bess in the kitchen, it’s getting near the busiest time for serving food. Also, Sam and Pa eat here every day and I think it’s better if I talk to them first about your coming home although they might know already, you know, the taproom was busy earlier.’  
Ethan nodded in agreement, ‘where else can I get some dinner if it’s a problem here with them?’ He asked.   
‘Now don’t you worry, brother, you will eat here and if they don’t like it, they can eat a ploughman outside.’   
Daisy looked a determined woman, well able to stand up to her family’s men as well as to other men probably, come to think of it, after a lifetime spent in a public house. She got a grin from Ethan who told her that he would come down in about half an hour.

Ethan took his clothes out of his bag then stood at the window looking out to the sea. The port looked quiet, but he knew it was normal at this time of day, the fishermen were out to sea. The large low building on the edge of the village intrigued him. He could see that the doors were opened, and barrels were being loaded on carts. A knock on the door interrupted his musing, Daisy had sent a maid with hot water for him. The girl curtsied, and Ethan thanked her.  
It felt good to refresh himself. He changed his shirt, soiled after the 4 hours he had spent in the coach this morning then walking down to the village. He had told Daisy that he was financially comfortable, but in fact, he was more than comfortable. He had saved the prize monies earnt during his years in the navy and had made good placements, furthermore, his benefactor had left him £3000 in his will, money Ethan had also invested wisely. He had quitted his well-paid appointment at St Thomas because he hated life in London. He had toyed with the idea of going back to Scotland and find a position there, but he was not sure. He had to admit that he was very attached to Cornwall, the climate suited him and as his eyes took on the lovely sight of the bay below his window, his idea of going to Scotland lost more and more of its appeal.  
He put his coat back on and made his way downstairs to the lounge. It was busier than he had expected. He was unsure whether it was usual at this time or if the news of his sudden reappearance had brought a lot of curiosity to the tavern. Daisy came to meet him and led him to a table where 2 men were sitting down. Ethan sat down on the vacant chair opposite his father and brother.   
The years had not been kind to his brother. Too much beer had aged him and spoilt his skin leaving him with red unsightly patches on his cheeks and nose. His body was still showing hard muscles though, at least moving beer barrels had a good side to it. His father had aged a great deal, his hair was totally white and his skin very wrinkled, he was thinner too, but otherwise, there was still this suspicious and aggressive look in his eyes Ethan remembered only too well. Both men were eying him carefully.   
Ethan knew they were taking in his size: he had left Porthdowns a tallish lanky adolescent and returned a taller than average, broad shouldered man with a confident air about him. Ethan’s eyes showed none of the fear and pain they remembered seeing when they had finished beating him up that fateful night before he ran away. His father broke the silence, he was aware of customers listening in and maybe hoping for a fight. Old Samuel was well known for his fiery temper and lack of control.  
‘Why did you bother coming back then? Is it to get us to admire your fancy clothes?’  
‘I wanted to see the village again; I needed a holiday in the country after spending time in London.’   
Ethan spoke without the slightest trace of the Cornish accent he’d had in his youth. He had practiced hard to get rid of it before going to university in Scotland. His origins had left him self-conscious because he knew that the other students came from a much better social background than his. Accents mattered, it changed the way others looked at you and judged you and Ethan did not want to be at a disadvantage from the first day. It had been difficult, but he had managed it with a help of a young man from a good family who had become his lover in the months before he went to Scotland. The love affair did not last after he entered St Andrews; his lover had accepted to abide by his family’s wishes and had got married to the girl they had chosen for him. Ethan had been sad but had soon recovered. His good looks had meant that he had never been short of partners. He had always been very careful to protect himself though. He had seen too many good men destroyed by venereal diseases during his years in the navy and later at St Thomas’. He always used condoms which he carefully cleaned afterward and had never got carried away to have intercourse without.  
His brother snorted at the sound of the cultured voice. Daisy had told them that Ethan was a physician and a surgeon with diplomas from University. Despite their slightly condescending manners, they were grudgingly admirative of his looks and success.   
‘Got yourself married yet?’ Asked Sam. ‘No,’ replied Ethan without offering an excuse.   
He had decided long ago that he would not pretend and marry because society looked kindly to married men. He was careful to mind that his taste for other men remained secret, but in this village, where he had been beaten up and call a molly, he knew he would always be under suspicion anyway.   
He inquired about Sam’s children, his father’s health, not that he particularly cared, anything to make the moment pass as quickly as he could. The food was very good, he remarked that he liked the changes made in the tavern which got his father scowling and his brother smiling. Nothing new there, the old bastard could not even admit to a good thing when it stared him in the face.  
At least they did not eat slowly. Ethan excused himself at the end of the meal, pretending to be tired which got his father mumbling derisively and he returned to his room to think. He had booked for 2 nights but was unsure of wanting to stay that long.   
Later on, he went down and met Daisy’s and Sam’s children. The ones who lived in the village anyway. He went to look at the building that intrigued him earlier and discovered that it was a cellar where pilchards where preserved in salt, then packed in barrels ready for selling. He was much impressed. The fish cellars belonged to Mr. Kermor, he was told, the man had invested a lot of money in the project and it provided more than welcome work in the village and even beyond. He heard the name frequently that afternoon. The man was very popular, everyone sang his praises.   
He had supper with Daisy and her husband. They were good company; Ethan took to Matthew straight away. The pretty young maid who had brought him hot water earlier turned out to be their daughter, Clowance. He met their nephew, Aidan, who worked as a footman at the manor house.   
They spoke of the old days, of the people who had come and gone over the years. It was a pleasant evening. They were hoping he would stay for more than the 2 days he had booked for and he did not have the heart to tell them he had been thinking of already leaving the next day. He felt somewhat guiltily that, all said and done, he had nothing much in common with them at all. At least he had put a few ghosts to rest and he slept well that night. He had got on better than expected with Sam as well and was pleased that Daisy was content with her life.

The next morning at the crack of dawn, he decided to go for a walk along the beach, passed the pier on the east side, admiring the terraces which went all the way up to the manor house. The tide was low, rocks and small creeks would be accessible, and he had loved these lonely walks as a child, free from the constant interference of either father or elder brother.  
It was warm enough for him to go in his shirt and pants only. When he got to the beach, he took off his shoes to enjoy the feel of bare feet in sand and water. He walked past the headland to revisit the small creeks which nested below the high cliffs east of the village. Looking out to the sea, he was surprised to notice that someone was in the water. He frowned at first, thinking that the person might be in trouble, but soon realised that it was not the case; the man swam parallel to the coastline with the strong regular strokes of an experimented swimmer.   
Ethan stopped to look, the man was approaching the beach and was getting out of the water. Ethan caught his breath. The swimmer was stark naked, and he was making his way towards him and a small secluded creek Ethan knew well.   
Ethan stood there, mesmerized by the man’s looks. He had a perfect body, tall, lean, and he was walking towards him with the grace of a cat. Ethan’s own body reacted the way it usually did when faced with outstanding male beauty. He stood there, mesmerised, looking at the man who was now looking back at him, unashamedly indifferent at displaying his body. Ethan made no attempt at trying to hide his erection, if the stranger was not ashamed then he could not see why he should be. He was stunned to discover when the man got nearer, that his face was just as gorgeous as his body. He was not smiling though. He looked at Ethan and said coldly:  
‘Control yourself, sir,’   
Ethan smiled broadly, ‘I can’t when seeing one of nature’s wonders,’   
The swimmer marked a pause and stared, seemingly lost for words. Ethan knew that his eyes must reflect his desire.  
The man lowered his eyes for a second and can’t have missed Ethan’s cock twitch through the fabric of his pants because his skin coloured slightly, and Ethan saw that the stranger’s cock was reacting favourably to the compliment. Ethan laughed, happy to see his homage appreciated. Then, after of few moments of uncertainty, the man nodded slightly to him and walked towards the cliff wall.   
Ethan followed, he knew where he was going, this area of the beach held no secret to him.   
He thought for a minute that maybe he was interpreting the man’s nod wrong, also that if he had got it right, he did not have a condom with him. He should be sensible, he thought, content himself with stroking the other’s body, if he had got it right, of course, but when the man bent against a rock, offering himself to Ethan, caution went to the winds. He wanted to be inside this man, he had not taken a lover for some months now and he had missed physical intercourse sorely.   
He pulled his clothes off and leaned over the stranger’s back. Ethan was taller, he nuzzled the skin of the neck playfully, tasting salt, while his hard member rubbed against the lower back, then his hands traveled along the inside of the thighs all the way to the top, opening the cheeks to reach the entrance where he wanted to lose himself. He wetted his fingers and worked to open; it took a while, the skin was still wet with salty water, and Ethan wanted to avoid discomfort to either of them. The other man moaned softly, pushing his body against Ethan’s fingers lustily. Then, not wanting to waste any more time, Ethan pushed his cock wet with spit inside the stranger. He thrust hard and deep, holding the man’s hips tightly, feeling with pleasure how the beautiful body arched to meet his. Too soon, Ethan felt his partner climax, the walls of his passage tightening around him, the delightful sensation sending him over the edge.


	2. 1817 August

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New projects and a glimmer of hope for a better life for Yannick.

The year 1817 was just as wet and cold as the year 1816 had been. Yannick had kept busy all year, giving himself plenty to do to avoid having any time on his hands at all for dark thoughts.  
Anne-Laure’s family, Louis and his mother had spent the whole of August 1816 at Rosemarkie Manor and this year they had come in July. Anna was now living on her own in London separated from Valentin who had not returned to England since running away to France in July 1816.  
It had been good for Yannick to have a noisy house full of children running up and down, getting into mischief, and forever asking for new things to do, new places to explore. He had established close ties with his sister and her husband and knew that they would always be there for him and for his children. He was reassured to know that he was not now the only family they had. Louis had taken Meredith under his wing; the age difference was not so great between them and they became firm friends.  
Although he had spoken freely with his family about his love affair with Alexis and told them about the way the lovers had parted, he had never mentioned the other allegations made against him in the pamphlets; he knew that if Anne-Laure ever asked, he would be honest with her, but he was frightened of her reaction. He had many conversations with Alexander on his own, mainly naval talks of course, but Alex had never broached the subject either; Yannick wondered if his sister and her husband preferred not knowing, after all, it was more comfortable this way rather than living with an unpalatable truth.  
Mrs. Harvey and John had settled in their new household. Mrs. Harvey had reorganized the household and got it running smoothly and more economically, John was now Yannick’s official valet but as his new master did not require him for a lot of tasks, he busied himself using his ability with cloth; he started making clothes for Nick and later to making them also for Meredith and Charley. Mary had started her functions as a lady’s maid to Charley, the girl was too young to require much from a maid, so Mary was more than happy to help with sowing new clothes and mending old ones as well as helping out with looking after Nick.  
A young nursery maid was employed to look after the little one after Simona discovered that after years of disappointment she was at long last with child. Loïk was at the same time delighted and worried sick at the prospect of becoming a father as he approached the age of 50, Simona was 36; she had given birth to a stillborn baby in 1805 after a difficult delivery. Simona had trusted a young farmer who had promised to marry her but abandoned her as soon as he was told of her condition. Her aunt who was the marchioness Julia’s housekeeper had accepted to let her live with her because she knew that the marchioness was also with child and would need a nursing maid. The marchioness had given birth to her daughter a few days after Simona had, and it had been some consolation to Simona who had milk in abundance to feed the baby girl. Simona and Charley’s attachment to each other had never faltered over the years, and Simona had been the only woman in Charley’s life for nearly 9 years.

Charley’s great love for books and Greek and Latin was not lessening at all. She spent time dreaming of antique ruins while looking at maps and suggesting that maybe a grand tour would be a lovely thing to do, there was peace in Europe now so why not?  
Meredith’s interest in family history had weaned and he had gone back to his old interest in drawing and painting. He spent some weeks at a factory making pottery out of china clay, but came back disappointed, the whole process proved to be a much more complicated and costly business than he’d thought and he was not so enthusiastic as he was before he actually saw it with his own eyes. Even the painting on clay was far more difficult than he had imagined. The articles of pottery had to be fired after each colour had been applied and each time there was a risk of failure. He did not know if he had the patience to persevere and also, he knew that he would hate to see his paintings destroyed in the kiln.  
Yannick was not unhappy about this. Although he would have supported Meredith if he had wished to start pottery making, the financial investment would have been considerable. The French domain of Mersac had yielded good profits in the past thanks to the vineyards and the agricultural lands, but the bad weather had caused these profits to be nil in 1816 and it looked as if 1817 was going to be the same. He knew the cellars at Mersac were full of good wine and brandy waiting to be sold and that there was plenty of money in the bank from past investments made by Maître Dubois and from previous good harvests, but he had no way of knowing how many more years of bad weather awaited them. He preferred to be careful and leave the money in the bank for the moment.  
He had financed spending on the manor and the estate in England by selling his uncle Pierre’s Paris house. He still had most of the precious gems he had brought back from India. The best ones had been given to him by the rajah of Kamorta. These stones had been personal gifts to him from the ruler and he had had no qualms about not including them in the hoard he brought back for France’s treasury. The other stones he had acquired himself as investments and he had advised his officers and crew to follow his example. Most of them had therefore bought small stones with their pay in the hope of a good return on investment back in France.  
So, for the time being, he continued to mine the clay and sell it instead of investing in a factory to transform it into pottery. The farms and the tin and copper mine of Rosemarkie were not yielding profits, only just about paying for themselves. At least they were providing work and people were not starving on his estate as they were elsewhere all over Europe. He really had nothing to worry about.

Charley’s wish for a grand tour of antique ruins in Europe appealed to him. He shared his daughter’s interest in the matter but was a little worried because Nicky was very young to go abroad and travel at only 3 and a half and there was no way that he would leave the little boy behind. He was teaching the child himself in the same manner than he had taught Charley on board Danae; contrarily to his daughter who had been boisterous and always happy, Nick was quiet and reserved; he liked nothing more than to be near his father, sitting down on the floor with his toys in the study when Yannick was working on his own or with Jonathan, or trotting behind him in the gardens. Yannick took him along when visiting the estate or the mine; Nick rode in front of his father on his horse or walked near him his little hand holding tight. Yannick was aware that he needed to get the child to distance himself and gain more independence; he had mentioned this to Miss Leary, he did not want to make the child grow up timid and unable to stand for himself in later life. He admitted to her that he had been needing the little one himself, a life-line as it were after his loss. Miss Leary did not think it would harm the child to keep him near, Nick was still very young and had been sorely deprived of love and security; she thought that as he grew up and realised that he would always have his father’s love then he would start affirming himself.

After Anne-Laure and her family had left at the end of July 1817 for their country estate in Cumbria, Yannick had felt the black cloud of the blue devils looming over him again and threatening to pull him down once more. He had fought against them on and off since Hadrian’s death. He had kept himself busy all the time, fought to keep his temper even, his pain hidden from the children, and remembering his arguments with Loïk over his drinking, he had kept away from the easy solace that alcohol could have given him. Only when alone in his bed did he allow his pain to take over and he frequently cried himself to sleep, with Hadrian’s plaited hair laid on his pillow against his cheek.  
He knew that he had to fight it, get used to spending time with his own thoughts, in another word, get used to the loss of Hadrian. Physical exercise seemed a good way to achieve this. It had worked the previous year. He needed to push his body as hard as he could, be on his own and think only of the challenges he set himself. He sparred for hours with the children or with Loïk and he rode a fair bit also, but it was not enough.  
He had always liked swimming. Despite being August, the sea was cold, he could not remain in the water for long, but how invigorating it was, once he had forced himself into the cold water!  
He often thought about how easily he had taken for granted Hadrian’s presence by his side, and how much he missed the intimacy he had shared with the man. These few months with him had been only the second time in his life that he had actually lived with someone he loved. The first person had been Julia, but he now knew that these few months during which he had thought himself happily married had been a lie: he had been the only one in love in that relationship. His love for her had vanished the moment he had read her letter at Sorano after she had run away abandoning both newly-born daughter and husband.  
With Hadrian, he had shared, not just a bed, but daylight activities too. They had sparred, rode, walked miles with Charley, Meredith, and the dogs, talked about everything in the evenings in his private drawing room, indulging in sometimes a little more wine than they should have done before retiring to bed to indulge in other even more pleasant activities. Evenings were the time of day he dreaded most: retiring to his bed, cold despite the warming pans he insisted on having. He had thought that tiring himself would help to make up for the lack of physical contact his body craved for, but as the months went by his body reminded him occasionally that he was not made of stone.

So, some mornings before breakfast, when the tide was right, he went down to a little cove accessible at low tide, where he set down his clothes and towels and took to the sea. He swam along the coast for a while and turned back again, being careful not to overdo it. There was always a hint of danger in the exercise due to the coldness of the water and his own ability to judge his strength for the return swim. It did him a lot of good. Of course, he knew that if he was too exhausted, he could get out and either rest a while or walk back along the beach, deserted at this early hour.  
One morning, as he started to walk back to the place he had come to call his own private little cove, he discovered that this part of the beach was not deserted and he did not like it. A man was there, standing on the beach at the spot he was heading for and looking straight at him as he walked his way inland. The man was tall, probably a couple of inches taller than him and broad-shouldered. He was dressed in an open-necked shirt and his pants were rolled up to just under his knees. His feet were bare. He was holding his shoes. He was also very attractive.  
Yannick kept on walking. He was not generally self-conscious when naked, but something in the man’s gaze unsettled him. He could not help noticing the obvious swelling of the man’s crotch through his pants. As he came level with the stranger he looked into his soft grey eyes and said as coldly as he could manage: ‘Control yourself, sir,’ the stranger smiled,  
‘I can’t when seeing one of nature’s wonders.’  
Yannick stared, lost for words. His looks had brought him many lewd proposals over the years, both from males and females, but this approach was original. The eyes on him were openly admirative and the man’s desire very obvious. He couldn’t help lowering his own eyes for a second and saw the stranger’s cock twitch through the fabric; heat rose inside him and before he had time to fight it, he realised that his own cock was reacting favourably to the compliment. The stranger laughed. It was a clear, joyous sound without a hint of mockery. Yannick’s throat felt tight and before he realised what he was doing he was nodding at the stranger, eyes meeting his for a few moments, before walking to the cliff wall where he had left his clothes. The stranger followed him. A tiny voice of caution in his head told him that this was a bad idea, he shut it up; it had been a long time and he needed the pleasure which this man was going to provide him with. They walked in between rocks to reach the cliff face, disappearing from view from the beach.

The place Yannick left his belongings was well chosen. The cliff face above was inwardly curved at its base so that no one watching from above could see his clothes laid on a lower rock. At high tide the sea came right up to the cliff, so he had to watch the tides carefully when going for his swims. He had chosen the place because he had wanted to make sure no one would find him and disturb these few moments of wanted loneliness. He thought ruefully that it was also suitably secluded for the forbidden activity which was about to take place. He felt the way he had when he had offered himself to Hadrian. A strong need to feel a man’s cock inside him, to be taken by another, and lose himself in the pleasure which came when his body responded to the deep thrusts inside him and revel in the delight brought on when the other man finally surrendered and spent his seeds in him.  
He leaned his body against the rock where he had left his towel, he did not speak a word and the stranger did not either. He was aware that the other man was undressing. He sighed when he felt the stranger’s body covering his own, his length caressing his skin. The stranger nuzzled his neck gently while his hands traveled along the inside of his thighs to the top, parting his cheeks to get access to his most private orifice. Then it was happening, the stranger was pushing his fingers inside him gently, working to open him up; Yannick relaxed, happy to comply, pushing his own body backward to claim more. Soon the stranger was thrusting his cock all the way in. The man was big, Yannick felt fuller than he had done with anyone else in his life. It was a little uncomfortable despite the care the stranger had taken to open him beforehand, his body was still wet with seawater, and they had no oil, but it was good, god it was so good. He moved with the man, meeting his deep thrusts with a pleasure he had thought never to experience again since his lover’s death. He had meant to live a chaste life, but he had misjudged his body’s wants and how much he enjoyed being fucked.

Afterward, Ethan took a step back from Yannick and put his hands on his shoulders, willing him to turn around and face him. Yannick did, they looked at each other both of them a little subdued after the intense rush of pleasure which had swept them a few moments ago.  
‘Are you all right, I did not hurt you, did I?’ Asked Ethan, suddenly concerned that he had got carried away with his passion and had not been as attentive to the other man’s comfort as he had meant to be.  
‘No, no, you did not,’ Yannick took a breath of air, ‘it was good. Very good.’  
He put his hands flat on Ethan’s chest, feeling the hard muscles. His fingers traced along those same muscles that he had imagined under the material earlier on the beach. The man was taller than him, his shoulders were broad, he stood there, proud of his virility, pleased with the satisfaction he was reading in Yannick’s eyes.  
‘Do you want more?’ He asked, Yannick nodded, he took his towel from the rock and put it on the sand, then knelt down on it. Ethan knelt in front of him before taking him into his arms, seeking Yannick’s mouth.  
Ethan felt the head move sharply back before his lips touched Yannick’s. One hand went up to his chest and held him there. Ethan’s moved away, and he looked into the green eyes for a clue as to how to proceed next. It was unnerving for Ethan, he had not expected the stranger to refuse him at this point, not after offering himself so shamelessly before.  
Yannick was not sure he wanted to be kissed by the stranger. The only real kisses he had ever received from men had been Camille’s inexperienced sweet fumbling and more importantly Hadrian’s. Hadrian had given him his first real open-mouth passionate kiss that night in India and had made him crave for more of the same every time he was with him; Yannick was not sure that he was ready to let another man take his mouth. He still remembered his lips touching Hadrian’s this last time, when he had desperately sought to feel a breath from his love whereas he had already breathed his last while Yannick had been blissfully asleep.  
He saw Ethan’s surprise and worry in his eyes at his reaction. They were so expressive, these grey eyes, and what he liked most was to see that the man was concerned that he had somehow offended Yannick and did not understand why. It was very sweet, especially after their earlier rather primitive coupling. How could he imagine that Yannick could be shy of giving his mouth after he had granted access to a much more private part of his body just a moment ago. Yannick wanted this man again, nearly as much as he had wanted Hadrian in India, his reluctance not to kiss was silly, Yannick’s arms went around Ethan’s neck and he pulled him towards him.  
Their love-making lasted much longer this time. Yannick was shocked when after kissing his mouth, the stranger took his member in his mouth eagerly and expertly. This stranger was turning out to be an adventurous as well as a virile lover and Yannick thought that he could be just what he needed to start enjoying life once more.  
They lay in each other’s arms for a while, exhausted by their exactions before they realised that the tide was coming in and was now dangerously reaching their love-nest.  
Ethan stood up, looking concerned.

‘We must hurry to get out. I am not sure we’ll make it back to the village as it is.’  
‘We won’t, not to the village anyway,’ said Yannick with an unconcerned tone of voice, ‘it’s already too late to get back along the beach, and swimming would be too dangerous now with the rocks,’ Ethan was putting his clothes back on while Yannick was talking. He looked down at him as Yannick continued, ‘it’s all right though unless you’re frightened of heights.’  
Ethan frowned, ‘I am not, but I’m not too fond of them either, besides there’s no way up this cliff’s wall,’  
This time Yannick smiled: ‘If there’s a way down, there’s a way up, don’t you think?’  
He had got ready too while he was talking. He put his shoes on as well and picked up his towels:  
‘Come on or we are going to get wet feet,’ and he squeezed between 2 jutting rocks to walk further along the bottom of the cliff towards the village. Ethan followed him. He knew the area well; he could not understand where the stranger meant to climb up. He could only remember sheer rock face up to the headland where the beach would by now be completely submerged. Then he saw them, steps carved out of the rock at an area where the rock face was not so steep.  
‘These did not exist in my young days,’ he remarked.  
‘No, they are only about 10 years old or so,’ said Yannick, ‘I thought smugglers had carved them, but I can’t work out why. They wouldn’t be able to carry anything up, the steps are too narrow and dangerous.’  
Ethan could only agree, thoughtfully. He did not like it; he thought about the first terrifying moment at sea when he had been ordered up the ratlines. One look backward at the waves lapping the sand near his feet told him that unfortunately there was no alternative to his climbing the cliff if he intended to avoid drowning…  
Yannick climbed first. Ethan watched him admiringly, the man was really beautiful, graceful, yet not feminine in any way. He was sure-footed too, he climbed as if the drop below did not exist. Ethan followed up far more carefully. He had not lied when he had said heights did not frighten him, he had got used to climbing up the masts regularly eventually, still, it did not mean that he had enjoyed it. He made it to the top. The stranger was waiting for him, looking towards the village in the distance.

The ground sloped gently down towards Porthdowns on their left while on their right, it went up more sharply towards the terraces of Rosemarkie Manor’s back garden. Ethan had never seen the manor from the cliff edge. He stood there, admiring the view. The terraces were well-tended, and as he remembered from his youth, roses were the favourite flowers, they were blooming with many different colours with their scent filling the air.  
It was early yet, and it looked as if the weather was going to be clement for once. Ethan felt awkward, he did not quite know how to part with this man he was now intimate with. Yannick spoke first,  
‘I trust you know where you are. I have to hurry for I am very late already. I’ll probably see you again some time,’ and with these words, he hurried up the path leading to the terraces and the manor.  
Ethan watched him for a few minutes, hoping that he would turn around for a last look at him. He did not, he was walking up very fast, nearly running, late to take up his duties maybe, thought Ethan. Disappointed, he started to walk back along the path at the cliff edge and down to the village.

Yannick was very late. By that time, he was usually sitting down to breakfast with the children. As it was, he had not even washed away the seawater yet. He made his way to his little luxury as he called it. It was a bathroom he had devised downstairs. He had heard Louis describe such a thing when he was in London last year. Louis had visited Walpole Hall in Cambridgeshire and had been very impressed by it. From the description that Louis gave, it reminded Yannick of the lovely sunk-in bath he had the pleasure of using in India. He had commissioned an engineer to build one at Rosemarkie. Of course, it was not so grand as the one he had been used to at the rajah’s palace, but it was nevertheless large enough and deep enough for 2 adults to lie comfortably in hot water which was heated in the kitchen nearby and always available. It was tiled in an antique style that appealed to Charley and was used a great deal, especially by the children who loved it. One could lie down in the warm water and enjoy a relaxing moment or just have a quick wash as he was doing this morning.  
As he had expected, he was late for breakfast. Charley and Meredith were in the classroom with Miss Leary for their lessons. Nick was playing with building blocks under the watchful eyes of his nursery maid. He rushed to his father as soon as he saw him. Yannick immediately picked him up and sat him on his lap while he was eating his breakfast. He did not linger very long at the table; he had set appointments with both Mrs. Harvey and Jonathan in the mornings and he did not like to keep either of them waiting for him.  
For Mrs. Harvey, it was mainly a question of routine because there were very few matters for which she needed his agreement. Since she had started taking over the running of the manor, she had reorganized the household in a much more efficient way. 3 new maids had been taken on, all were girls from the village, trained by Mrs. Harvey. The butler who had been engaged by Yannick when he had started to expand his household had not remained. He had not seen eyes to eyes with Mrs. Harvey and Yannick’s unconventional way of living disturbed him. He had not been replaced. Loïk looked after the cellar and now that his English had improved could manage the 2 footmen. Mrs. Harvey dealt with everything else helped by Mary and John.

Mrs. Harvey had no particular problem to discuss this morning, so Yannick went to his office straight away where Jonathan was waiting for him. He took Nick along as usual. The child had trailed behind him his bag of building blocks and he sat on the floor, happy to play on his own while his father worked with Jonathan. The continuing bad weather would mean yet another poor harvest. The estate would not gain any revenue from crops this year again. The copper mine was losing money for the third year in a row. Jonathan hated himself for suggesting that closing it down would be a sensible thing to do. Yannick looked startled:  
‘You would let men and women without wages despite the current difficulties to find other work?’  
Jonathan looked embarrassed: ‘I don’t like it, but my duty is to you, sir, you are paying me to get the estate running efficiently and with profit-making. Unfortunately for the last 2 years, no money has come in, but a lot has come out, as you well know. I have to propose a solution to save money even if it breaks my heart to do so.’  
Yannick did not answer for a minute. Jonathan was right, of course, but there was no way he was going to follow this up.  
‘You are right, you are doing your duty. I judged you well when I took you on. But I will not put men out of work to save money, especially not when times are so hard for everyone. I think I am going to do the opposite of what you are suggesting. We shall talk to the mine manager, seek the advice of an engineer, and see how we can make this mine profitable. I read that steam engines have been used to pump water out and allow digging under the sea. Get a costing, I will invest if there is a chance of finding tin or copper by digging deeper; also we need to extend the clay mining. I know it will mean running at a loss for the first few months, but I am convinced that it will bring profit hopefully in a not too distant future.’  
It was not the answer Jonathan had expected at all. He was deeply relieved, he had friends who worked in the mines with whole families depending on their wages.  
‘Forgive me for asking, sir, but it will need a lot of cash, will the bank follow you in these troubled times?’  
Yannick laughed, ‘I won’t ask the bank. You see, my wine business has not been very profitable in England, but it is not so in France. My vineyards are producing wine and brandy which is starting to sell again very well, besides I also have money sleeping in French banks. I will invest it here.’  
Jonathan’s eyes widened, ‘I thought that the wine you import came from a négociant, not from your own vineyards.’  
‘well, it does. I will have to take you there one day, show you my French estate. Anyway, now that we’ve discussed the business matters, time for gossip, tell me, what’s new in the village?’  
He always got his gossipy news from Jonathan. Jonathan informed him of the social events happening at Porthdowns: weddings, births, deaths. Yannick needed this information to keep in touch with the locals, help financially if need be in case of a crisis, send presents from the manor in case of happy events. This morning though, Yannick’s interest was far more personal. If the stranger had lived in the village in his youth as he had hinted at this morning, then Jonathan would know about him visiting. Porthdowns was not a place many came to by chance.  
‘Well, Ethan Treeve has returned yesterday. No one talks about anything else since.’  
‘Treeve?’ Questioned Yannick, trying his best not to seem too interested, ‘is he related to Aidan Treeve, our footman and to Old Samuel Treeve, from ‘The Black dog’?’  
‘He is, sir, Ethan is old Samuel’s second son and therefore Aidan’s and my wife’s uncle. He left at 14 to join the navy and has come back now, after 25 years. He has come back a physician no less. He practices in a London hospital. Quite an achievement for a youth who could only just read and write when he left the village.’  
‘Indeed. I suppose the pub’s tenancy was always going to be left to Sam as eldest son so, the youngest had to make his way in the world, it’s strange though that I don’t remember anyone mentioning him, you’d think old Sam would have talked about his second son’s achievements, he sounds like someone to be proud of for a father.’  
‘Actually, he left under a cloud,’ as Yannick did not speak, but lifted his eyebrow, Jonathan continued, uncomfortably, ‘from what I heard, Ethan was rumoured to be…,’ Jonathan cleared his throat, ‘a molly and old Sam and Sam beat him up something bad, and the next day Ethan had gone. Old Sam forbode his family to ever mentioning him again.’  
’It must have been quite a shock for the old man to see him turn up then.’  
‘Yes. But Sam had felt guilty for the rousting his younger brother had been given and Daisy welcomed him warmly. After all, it had all been only rumours, no one really knew if there were any truth in them or not.’  
Yannick’s face gave nothing away. Over the years he had practiced keeping his feelings in check as much as possible. He for one knew that the rumours were true, Ethan’s behaviour this very morning left him little doubt as to the man’s sexual preferences.  
He saw Jonathan out, on his way to the mine and he was left alone to think about his behaviour this morning. He had let his desire get the best of him, a risky thing to do in England. Thinking of it sent shivers down his spine. With Hadrian, there had been a whole evening of exchanging looks and careful thinking before he had opened his door, and his bed, to him. He had known who Hadrian was and what risk the English officer was taking in courting him.  
This time, he had bent for a man not knowing the first thing about him, just because he had liked his looks and felt his body wanting. He had acted like a shameless whore. There was no other way to describe his behaviour. And he had wanted more after. God, he was hard again just thinking about it, ‘I must pull myself together,’ he tried to convince himself, ‘he is not going to stay in Porthdowns. He has a position in London and has only come for a visit. I must avoid meeting him again that’s all.’ He was used to controlling himself, wasn’t he?  
But why should he, after all, he was free? He walked to the windows, looking out towards the meadows, he had no view of the village or the sea from his study. Ethan. It suited him, it was a soft name, gentle like the look in his eyes when he had bent to kiss him. He wanted to see him again. Yannick’s hands balled into fists along his thighs, it had been a long time since Hadrian. He would never recover completely from his loss, but for the first time, he envisaged that a new sexual relationship might be possible for him even if it only lasted a few days. His body needed it and his mind too. He felt better than he had for a long time, more alive. He did not believe that he could ever fall in love again, but enjoy bed play, yes, he definitely could do that.  
He knew how to see Ethan again. He wrote a note and sent a messenger to deliver it before helping Nick pick up his toys and leaving his study with the little one on tow.

Ethan made his way slowly back to the village. He liked walking and it helped to get his thoughts in order. He was coming to terms with what had just happened on the beach. It seemed unbelievable, thinking back at the event, that such a handsome man could have given himself to him so easily. Ethan knew he was attractive, but still…such a gorgeous man could have whoever he wanted surely…  
He had worried about the fact that he had entered him without a condom, but his worries had diminished after he had taken a close look at the man’s private parts during their second dallying episode. His professional perusing had certainly pleasured his partner a great deal. It had certainly pleasured him, for sure; he licked his lips absently, recalling the taste of the stranger’s skin, sea salt, and his earlier climax…  
He remembered that Daisy had said that they had connections with the manor: her daughter Demelza’s intended, Luke, worked there as a groom while Samuel’s son, Aidan, was a footman. It would not be easy though to gain some information about the man without raising suspicions about his interest in him, especially given the old rumours about him. He could not exactly ask his sister if she knew who the gorgeous black-haired, green-eyed man working at the manor was, now could he? He dearly hoped that Luke would not fit the description…he chased the idea out of his head, Luke would be too young, the man was in his late thirties, Ethan was sure of that…maybe he would find a discreet way of questioning Aidan, he had liked the young man immediately when meeting him on the previous evening with the other members of his family.  
By the time he got back to ‘The Black dog’, breakfast was being served. Daisy was happy to serve him a generous helping of bacon and was pleased to notice that he was in an excellent mood. She asked him if he had made his mind up about staying for more than 2 nights. He said that ‘yes, he would stay longer,’ after all he was in no hurry to find another position, he could give himself a few days to think. Porthdowns had become far more attractive to him since this first walk this morning. If he wanted to be totally honest with himself it was not due only to this morning encounter, but also to the fact that he had loved the place as a child; walking along the beach, he had recalled the happy times he’d had looking for shellfish, exploring the caves further up the coast or playing in the weir.  
The people he had met while walking through the village had been civil to him, some had even taken their hat off and called him ‘sir’, only his father had been grumpy really, and as Sam had told him with a shrug, ‘that’s just his ways, he hasn’t had a good word for anyone in memory.’  
He had just finished his breakfast when a messenger came in and handed him a note from Rosemarkie Manor. Ethan felt a sudden rush of pleasure and he checked himself. He was reacting like a silly schoolboy with a crush, thinking that the beautiful stranger might have found a way of introducing him to his place of employment. The note was from Mr. Kermor himself, he read it immediately. Mr. Kermor had heard that a physician was residing at ‘The Black dog’ and begged the esteemed professional his opinion regarding his younger son’s health. Would he be kind enough to call at the manor in the afternoon if it was convenient?  
He told Daisy. She was delighted, she could not praise Mr. Kermor enough, he was such a good man. Ethan asked about the child, did she know he was ill? She knew he was very young, 2 or 3, she said and with a limp. Ethan thanked her. He went up to his bedroom for a rest and decided that he would go up to the manor later on this afternoon.  
So, a few hours later, Ethan made his way up the terraces with their beautiful flower display, and around the manor to reach the front door. He knocked, and Aidan, his nephew, let him in. Mr. Kermor was expecting his visit, he said, he was in the drawing room. Aidan knocked, then opened the door and let Ethan enter. The door closed behind him and Ethan found himself facing his mysterious lover. He was dressed like a gentleman rather than with the plainclothes he’d had this morning, and he was breathtakingly handsome. Ethan could not think of anything to say, and Yannick did not speak immediately, also admiring the elegantly attired man in front of him; the attraction between them was palpable, both knew that they would lay together again soon.

Yannick cleared his throat, ‘thank you for coming, and before you ask, I really would like your professional advice on my son, it’s not just a plot for meeting you again.’  
Ethan gave him a lovely smile, ‘I am sure you guessed that you did not need a plot to get me running to you at the slightest opportunity. Is this the child you are worried about?’  
Nick was sitting down on the thick carpet looking at an illustrated book laid down in front of him.  
‘Yes, this is Nick.’  
Ethan went on one knee and asked the child to walk to him. Nick looked at him, he stood up, and after checking with his father first, he limped his way happily towards Ethan. Ethan watched the child walk carefully, then after getting Yannick’s assent he picked him up and stood him up on the table to start his examination.  
‘My sister Daisy told me he was 2 or 3, is that so?’  
‘He will be 4 in November,’  
Ethan undressed the child gently, leaving him in his shirt, telling him not to worry that he would not be hurt. He was uneasy, he could not understand why a child born in a privileged household should be so thin and subdued. At nearly 4 years old he should be bouncing up and down, not sitting quietly on the floor. The limp surprised him too. He checked the child’s hips and found no malformation to explain it. He felt the bones of his legs, it was easily done, there was little flesh on them. How could Kermor have not known that the little leg had been fractured in infancy? Was he mistreating his child? And if that was the case, why call a physician out to check his condition? He would be a very callous man indeed if he just did it to get Ethan’s attention.  
He spoke bluntly as usual. Despite this morning’s adventure, he would not spare the man if he mistreated his child.  
‘He is too thin and too small for his age. And his leg has been broken and badly set. Can you provide some explanations?’  
Yannick nodded: ‘Yes, unfortunately. I only discovered his existence last year. His mother was my mistress and I did not know of her pregnancy. I found him in a slum, in London, where he had been abandoned,’ he sighed, ‘he has been living with me for a little over a year now, but he still eats very little.’  
Ethan had dressed up the child again and the little one had reached out for Yannick who took him in his arms.  
‘I am sorry to say that his limp cannot be put to right. The bone was broken, and it has not healed properly. The injured leg seems to be growing at the same rate as the healthy one now. He must gain strength and weight though, he is far too thin and at risk of serious problems. I will give you a list of the food you should give him to eat in priority.’  
‘Right, thank you. I thought he’d come around quicker than he did. He does not speak much but he seems to trust us; he follows me around the house and we go out and ride often. I have 2 other children, a daughter and an adopted son I rescued when he was about 5. Meredith had been badly mistreated too, but he did not have eating problems,’ Yannick smiled fondly, ‘quite the opposite, in fact, he was always hungry.’  
Ethan smiled back, ‘and your daughter, did you also rescue her from somewhere?’  
Yannick snorted, ‘in a way I did. Maybe I’ll tell you someday. Depends.’  
Ethan was curious, he would have liked to know now, but guessed that it was not the right time. He asked for paper, ink, and quill and started his list, with instructions to let the child eat at least 5 times a day and as much as he could manage. He wondered if the child had been plied with gin to keep him quiet too. He knew that it was common practice in the slums. He hoped his liver wasn’t damaged. He asked to have another check, to palpate his tummy. It felt all right, the boy did not show signs of pain, maybe the child had been recovering slowly. Perhaps because he only ever had very little to eat it was normal for him to feel full quickly. To be truthful, he did not know very much about children. He had seen some brought to him in dreadful condition at St Thomas’s hospital, but they generally were too far gone to be saved. He was reassured anyway by the way the child snuggled in his father’s arms. The little one obviously felt safe there. Ethan felt a little guilty of his previous suspicions, but then after all he knew nothing about this man even if the villagers sang his praises.  
A footman came in with refreshments, Ethan was offered tea, coffee, or stronger drinks if he wished. He accepted coffee with pleasure, it was his favourite drink. Yannick also took coffee, Nicky remained sitting on his father’s lap who coaxed him gently to choosing a biscuit from the plate. Ethan watched, fascinated by how the child only took very small bites of the biscuit at a time and chewing it thoroughly before having another bite. Ethan thought that the child was savouring his food which was a good sign, with patience he could be coaxed to eat more. Yannick broke the silence, asking him what his plans were, how long was he going to stay at Porthdowns. Ethan answered honestly; he had not decided yet.  
‘Don’t you have a date for going back to London?’ Yannick could not help asking.  
‘I am not going back; I’ve lived there for 4 years and I am not fond of city life. I miss walking in the countryside, admiring nature’s wonders,’ he stopped, blushing slightly as he realised that his host might read in his words an allusion to this morning’s events. It felt odd being here talking about mundane things in this elegant room, drinking coffee with this man after the way they had behaved just a few hours ago. He felt the need to justify himself, ‘I am sorry, I meant no allusion to, you know…,’ this time his host grinned,  
‘No need to apologize, I understand. I could never live in a city. You do know that there are no physicians in the area, don’t you? It’s a dire situation for everyone. Those with money can send for a physician to come from St Austell, those who don’t make do with the local midwife or herbalist. Last year there was a bad accident in one of the copper mines and I heard that the wounded men had to be taken by cart to St Austell to be looked at by a physician.’  
Ethan rolled his eyes, ‘surely a physician could have come out to look at them?’  
‘I don’t know the reason why he did not come, only that if a physician had lived around here then lives would have been saved. Forgive me to be blunt, but is the money an issue for you as it is for those fine city doctors also?’  
‘Ah, money, is that why they don’t set up here, not enough rich customers. I admit that I like nice clothes and good wines, but I do not seek to get rich, so money is not really an issue,’ he paused, looking in Yannick’s eyes, ‘would you like me to settle down in Porthdowns, Mr. Kermor?’ There was a mischievous glint in Ethan’s eyes when he asked his question.  
Yannick grinned, ‘yes I would,’ he paused, ‘but please don’t misunderstand me, I care for the health of the people first and foremost. Now, on a more personal level I would like to deepen our acquaintance if this is agreeable to you.’  
Ethan felt a definite wave of pleasure at the hardly disguised innuendo from the man sitting in front of him. He had lived only two affairs in his life, one in Scotland, and he admitted that he had not truly been in love with the man although they had been good in bed together, and another, a lifetime ago, in 1804. He had fallen in love with an officer from his ship, but except for an occasional passionate kiss and a grope in a storeroom, nothing else had happened. There were always risks of being discovered. Ethan still shivered when he remembered his panic after an officer had questioned what business he’d had down there. Luckily, the man had not noticed Ethan’s companion hidden in the shadows behind him. They could have hanged or been flogged to death. The officer had accepted his weak excuses. They had been lucky, but it brought the affair to a brutal end.

He realised that he was too long in answering and that Kermor might think that he had second thoughts regarding a sexual relationship with him. He needed to explain, fast, before awkwardness rose.  
‘How incredible how one’s life can change its course completely because of walking along the beach in one direction rather than in another. I think that I would like to settle in Porthdowns and I definitely want to get to know you better.’  
‘I’m glad that’s how you feel; would you like to stay for dinner? I’d like to introduce you to my family,’ Yannick added, ‘if you wish we can let your sister know that you are dining here, that’s if you agree to stay of course.’  
‘I’d love to stay, thanks. And Daisy already knows that I am here, so no worries.’  
They were brutally interrupted by the arrival of Charley and Meredith who had finished their lessons and wanted their father’s attention. Yannick introduced them to Ethan and they chatted happily while wiping clean the biscuits dish. Yannick did not bother telling them that dinner was in an hour, they knew that already. Yannick excused himself to Ethan, he wanted to take Nicky upstairs to his nursery maid for his evening meal before getting ready for bed. He left him alone with Charley and Meredith, apologizing in advance for the numerous questions that would be fired at him.  
One hour later they sat down for dinner joined by Miss Leary. She was delighted to learn that a physician had accepted to stay in Porthdowns, she had spent a lot of time herself searching in books for cures of one small ailment or another for servants in the household. She mentioned that Simona would be reassured too, she trusted the midwife to deliver her safely but would be happy to know that a doctor would also be on hand.  
Ethan enquired politely as to who Simona was and Yannick explained that she had been Charley’s nursing maid and that her position now was more of a friend of the family, she was about to give birth in the next 2 weeks or so. She was married to Loïk who could be said to be Yannick’s right-hand man.  
Yannick asked Ethan if he wouldn’t mind examining Simona for her peace of mind, he told her that she had delivered a stillborn baby 12 years ago and was concerned about the health of this one. Ethan agreed to look at her after dinner if that was convenient. Dinner was as lively as usual, Charley and Meredith taking part in the conversation around the table. Ethan was more and more puzzled by the unconventional set up in this house. He had never heard of children being allowed to talk freely at the table and even express their own opinions.  
He could not help but ask: ‘What happens if you don’t agree with your children’s views, sir?’  
Yannick grinned, ‘I let them know and they can then argue their case. It’s generally the other way around, though. They don’t agree with me and I have the devil of a time convincing them that I am right. By the way, you can drop the ‘sir’ and call me Ian.’  
Ethan bowed slightly in thanks. He felt good here, there was no feeling of underlying family conflict between them and instead, there was a great deal of love. He thought about young Nick and decided that he had nothing to worry about.  
The dinner ended later than usual, and Ian told Charley and Meredith that they should be off to bed, Miss Leary and Ethan were invited to join him in the drawing room for a last drink. Miss Leary was very interested in the care of women and babies, she had been visiting the poorest families in the village, despairing sometimes at the total lack of knowledge about their bodies from some of the young women. Unless they were lucky to have a close female relative, they had no idea of how to care for themselves let alone for their babies. They shared their ideas of what could be done to improve this situation and time flew by. Ethan suddenly remembered that he had promised to examine Simona and felt guilty that it was now too late to do so. A quick look at the time told him that he might have outstayed his welcome, it was past midnight and he should take his leave.  
‘I hope I have not kept you up too late, I will go home now; if you don’t mind, I’ll come back in the morning to examine Simona, she must be fast asleep now.’  
He got up and Miss Leary did also. Ian went to the large bow window and pulled the curtains slightly, ‘It’s still raining hard,’ he said, ‘I’d hate to find out in the morning that you slipped and broke your neck on your way down to the village, why don’t you spend the night here, and you can visit Simona before you return to the village in the morning,’  
Ethan’s heart beat faster at the thought of spending the night at the manor; he scolded himself, I must not read anything more to that suggestion. He bowed and accepted, thanking his host for his thoughtfulness.  
Ian put the fender in front of the fire and blew out the candles of all but a couple of small candelabras by the door, he picked one up and led the way out of the room, with Miss Leary bringing up the rear with the other candelabra. The whole house was silent and in the dark. He led the way up the two flights of stairs. From the landing, a long corridor accessed the west and east wings of the house. At the top of the stairs, Miss Leary wished them good night as she made her way along the corridor to the right. Ian entered the door opposite the stairs and invited Ethan in. Ethan found himself in another drawing room, much smaller and intimate than the one downstairs. The furniture was simple, it included a comfortable looking sofa in front of the fireplace, a desk, a small table and some chairs, a bookcase, and a drink cabinet. Ethan counted three doors leading off the room not counting the one they had entered from.  
‘This is my private apartment,’ said Ian, ‘if you’d prefer not sharing my bed, I’ll take you to the guest's wing of the house, please be honest, don’t think I…,’  
Ian did not have time to finish his words, Ethan had slid his arms around his waist and had started to kiss him. He kissed him back, linking his own arms around Ethan’s neck then he pushed him away gently and after picking up his candles again he pulled him towards the door on the left. It led to a large bedroom whose main feature was a large canopied bed facing a huge bow window which took almost the whole width of the wall. Ian put the light down and returned to Ethan’s arms.

When Ethan woke up the next morning, the first thing he saw was Ian watching him. He smiled, ‘good morning, already awake? Did I disturb you with my snoring?’  
‘Good morning, I like your snoring. It’s reassuring. I always wake up early,’ Ian gave him a gentle kiss on the lips, ‘and if the tide is low and the weather’s not too cold, I go swimming, as you well know,’  
Ethan nodded, ‘and are you planning on going this morning?’ This time Ian laughed,  
‘No. To catch the low tide this morning I would have had to get up hours ago. It’s quite late, you know.’  
Ethan frowned, with both the curtains of the windows and those of the bed closed he had no idea of the time. He listened but could not make out any noises either.  
‘It’s so quiet, are you sure it’s late, I mean should we not hear sounds?’ He got another light kiss before an answer;  
‘It’s 10. And as for noises, the village is too far to disturb especially if the wind blows out to sea as is the case today. This wing of the house is the oldest, apart from the tower on the other side and noises do not reach it,’ he stopped, then added with a mischievous grin, ‘noises don’t get out, either, if you take my meaning.’  
Ethan had the good grace to blush, he recalled only too well the cries he had coaxed from his lover last night. He worried though about the servants and Miss Leary who had seen them enter the room together and not come out yet. He voiced his concern to Ian. ‘Don’t worry, she will think nothing of it,’ he lied, ‘and before you ask about the soiled sheets, my valet will strip the bed and take the sheets down to the laundry room. John is loyal and will say nothing. Now, come and I will take you down to my luxury room.’  
Ian got up and put on his pants and a clean shirt. He handed one to Ethan:  
‘It’s the largest one I’ve got’ he said,  
‘Thanks, looks like it will fit,’  
‘It’s this way, you can get fully dressed after,’ Yannick made his way to the door and Ethan followed.  
They entered the drawing room and Ian made his way to a door near a corner. Ethan was surprised to discover a spiral stone staircase. They walked down, halfway was a small landing and another door. Ian kept going down until they reached ground floor level. Ethan’s curiosity was at its peak by now, he could not fathom what kind of luxury room his lover meant. They were now in a smallish room with one door on each wall; Ian opened the one to the left, and Ethan followed, only to stop, his mouth slightly open in astonishment when he discovered the lovely sunk-in bath. Ian bolted the door on the other side of the room. He turned the tap on and piping hot water poured into the bath already half-filled with cold.  
The bath was oblong, with 3 steps at the nearest end from the door and large enough for at least two adults. Yannick took his clothes off and entered the water. Ethan joined him, Ian handed him some soap, the water was beautifully hot, Ethan lay down, closing his eyes and thinking that this enticing man really knew how to live. He washed himself then offered to wash the other man’s back. Yannick accepted and turned around to sit on Ethan’s lap. Ethan lathered the soap and used a soft sponge to slowly clean the beautiful back before him. His body reacted at the gorgeous sight as he had feared he would. Ethan was unsure of himself, was this too bold he wondered. He stopped wondering when Ian sighed and rested his head on his shoulder, ‘lower,’ he murmured in Ethan’s ear. Ethan was only too happy to comply, Ian’s hand had slid behind his back and was stroking Ethan, leisurely at first, then directing him to the place where they both wished him to be.  
After they were done, they got out of the water and Ian pulled the plug out.  
‘I’ve never seen anything like this,’ said Ethan honestly, ‘this room, how did you get the idea?’  
‘My brother Louis saw one at Walpole Hall, it gave me the idea. The staircase already existed, it was created for the servants, direct access from the kitchen. I like taking baths, but all this business of having water carried upstairs,…then it’s never comfortable, the tubs are always too small anyway, so I decided to have a bathhouse built on the ground floor, it’s conveniently placed near the kitchen where another stove was put in to heat the water tank. Cold water was already tapped from the source up in the meadow. You like it?’  
‘I love it. You are a lucky man,’  
‘I share it, of course. The children always bathe at the same time of the day, so I organise myself around them.’  
They shaved, dried themselves, and were ready to go back to the bedroom to dress, Ethan kissed Ian’s lips lightly, he was rewarded with a deeper kiss, ‘be careful, I could be quite a wanton you know,’ Ethan sighed happily, he really was pleased that he had returned to Porthdowns.

They broke their fast on their own, Miss Leary and the children were at their studies. The nursery maid brought Nick downstairs to see his father as usual and Nick ate some small pieces of fruit offered to him at the table. Afterward, Ethan went to examine Simona while Ian was talking to Jonathan.  
Simona was worried, she told Ethan that she did not feel her baby move very much and she was frightened about the delivery because she was very big, much bigger than the first time she said.  
‘How am I going to be able to push out such a huge baby.’  
Ethan did his best to reassure her, she was not to worry if the baby did not move very much as long as he moved. He promised that he could be called night or day to help with the delivery, which in his opinion would come early. Mary, who had been present while Ethan examined Simona, promised to stay with her until the midwife arrived from the village in any case. She told them that she had delivered a baby herself not so long ago.  
‘Yes, of course, you delivered Nicky,’ said Simona,  
Mary smiled, ‘and he has turned out a fine lad now hasn’t he, and it was my first time too.’  
Ethan was reassured, at least Mary would not be frightened to act if time was short, as Ethan suspected was going to be the case. Simona had already given birth, the second time was generally a lot quicker, the baby’s head was engaged, it was a matter of days even hours before Simona gave birth.  
He left the ladies chatting away and told Mrs. Harvey that he was going back to the village. He wished he had caught another sight of Ian before leaving, but the meeting with Jonathan was not over yet.  
Ethan made his way down to the village, his mind aware of the decision he had made on the previous evening. It was all very well to talk about setting up in Porthdowns, but he had to find a place to stay and practice, he could not live at ‘the Black Dog’ for too long. He decided to walk through the village and look for an empty cottage he could rent. He walked down using the winding path from terrace to terrace, a short cut to the village rather than the direct garden access path to the manor. As he reached the end of the manor’s gardens, he suddenly remembered the lodge which marked the formal entrance to the gardens, at the intersection where the road to the village met the one leading up to the manor’s front courtyard.  
When he had walked down to get to the village 2 days ago, he had passed the lodge and deplored the fact that the place was shut down and nearly disappearing under vegetation. Its situation was ideal. Near enough the village for people to walk up to easily if they needed him, and halfway up the hill and easy to find if an emergency occurred at the mines. And not least of all, he would have easy access to the manor and to his lover. His lover. The word made his head spin, but after yesterday and this morning how else could he call Ian Kermor?  
He walked up the road to have a look at the lodge. He could see that there were slates missing from the roof, the trees and bushes around the building were overgrown and branches reached the upstairs windows, furthermore, the brambles made the approach difficult. The shutters on the windows were closed so he could not see inside if water had leaked in and caused some damage. It would likely be expensive to repair, maybe more than Kermor would be willing to pay to set up a physician in the village. They had not discussed any details, he chided himself, he should have stayed on this morning and talked it over with both Ian and Jonathan. It’s just that he had not wanted to look as if he was imposing himself.  
As he was disentangling himself from the brambles, trying his best not to tear his nice coat, he heard the sound of horses coming from the manor. The two riders slowed down when they saw him emerging from the greenery, it was Ian and Jonathan.  
‘We are off to the copper mine to meet the engineer,’ said Ian, he pointed at the lodge, ‘good location, are you interested?’  
‘Well, yes, but it looks as if it needs a great deal of work before it’s inhabitable,’  
Jonathan laughed, ‘more than likely, after all, it has stood empty for the last 20 years at least.’  
Ethan sighed, ‘as many as that, sounds bad,’  
Ian shrugged, ‘Jonathan, can you and Dr. Treeve meet tomorrow to look at it? We can discuss it after we find out if it’s worth doing up and how much it would cost.’  
Jonathan nodded, and they agreed to meet the next morning at the same time. Ethan proposed to clear out the brambles. Ian mentioned that he was going away to Falmouth the next morning, he would return in 3 days, which gave them time to have a good look and decide on their next step.  
Ethan returned to “the Black Dog”, it would have to do for the time being. Daisy was impatient to find out what had happened, Ethan told her about the dinner, and most importantly how Mr. Kermor had convinced him to settle down at Porthdowns. He failed to mention what had been Mr. Kermor’s best argument to convince him to stay. He wondered vaguely if he was not deluding himself, somehow it did look too good to be true. It was just as well that he would not meet Ian again for the next 3 or 4 days, he needed time to think rationally about the situation.  
He found some clothes in his bag that he did not care too much about and he returned to the lodge in the afternoon to pull out the brambles and other bushes and clear up the ground around the lodge as much as he could. It had been a shame really to cut the brambles bushes away, at least the village children saved the ripped fruits to take home.  
The next morning, he met Jonathan as planned. Jonathan had the keys and they went inside. They opened the shutters to get some light in. The windowpanes were not broken. The downstairs floor was littered with rubbish fallen from the damaged ceiling. The ground floor was made of stone slabs so at least it was safe. The stairs were also made of stone so going up was also safe. The wooden floor upstairs was rotten in places because of leaks in the roof. Jonathan seemed to be pleasantly surprised, ‘I expected much worse,’ he said to Ethan.  
The lodge had 2 bedrooms upstairs; downstairs, the front door opened on a good-sized reception room with one window facing the road to the village while another one on the side faced the village and the sea. The kitchen was small, it had one back door towards the manor, and one window with view of the back meadow, a smaller room had a view of the Top Road.  
Ethan dared not hope too much, it looked a bit of a mess to him, but Jonathan cheered him up, he was describing what needed to be done first and saying that Ethan would be able to move in in a month or so. Jonathan did not seem to doubt that Ian would agree to the repairs which cheered Ethan up no end. He liked the place immediately. They were starting to walk back to the village when they saw a footman running along towards them:  
‘Would the doctor call at the manor, please,’ Simona needed him.  
Ethan hurried up to the manor and he found an anxious Mrs. Harvey waiting at the door. Simona had started to have pains about 20 minutes ago, she said, a footman was sent to the village to get the midwife and one of the maids remembered that Dr. Treeve was at the old lodge with Jonathan, so another footman had also been sent to find him just in case the midwife did not get here on time.  
Mary was with Simona who was obviously in a great deal of pain, Mary told him that Simona had just lost her waters and that the contractions were coming fast and strong, she had examined Simona and said that she could see the head of the baby. Ethan looked and saw that she was right, Simona was fully dilated and ready to push at the next contraction, which she did. The baby slipped out smoothly out of the womb, Ethan cut the cord and gave the baby to Mary to wrap, the little one started to cry, and Simona breathed a sigh of relief, ‘It’s a little girl,’ said Ethan, ‘and she is just fine; you haven’t finished your work though my dear, next contraction you need to get the afterbirth out,’ Simona did as she was told, and Ethan was pleased to see that the placenta was whole, everything had gone quickly and smoothly, and mother and baby just needed to rest now.  
There was a knock on the door and the midwife entered, flushed from the exertion of running up the path to the manor. She was disappointed to arrive too late but pleased nevertheless that Simona had been delivered of a healthy baby. Ethan asked the midwife to take over the mother’s care and went out to find Loïk to give him the good news. Loïk was so happy he kissed Ethan on both cheeks and asked if he could see his family straight away, he was told that his wife needed some tidying up before she could receive her husband, Ethan went back to the bedroom to see how she was doing.  
He found Simona with her face contracted with pain. He looked at the midwife with surprise, she gave him a big grinning smile, ‘this one is mine to deliver,’ she said to Ethan as she encouraged Simona to push again. Minutes later another baby came to the world, he was crying as he came out, Mary had laid the baby girl in her cot and she was ready to wrap this new arrival as well, ‘you have a son,’ said the midwife, ‘one of each, the perfect combination.’  
Ethan told the midwife that it was also her turn to inform the father, he wondered if the midwife was also going to get kisses from Loïk. When she came back into the room, she told Ethan that he had nearly passed out, ‘these foreigners,’ she said gruffly, ‘far too emotional, they are,’ Ethan noticed though that she kept her head down, too late, he had seen her eyes, bright with happy tears and her flushed face.  
Loïk went in to see his family and Ethan made his way downstairs. In the drawing room, Miss Leary, Charley, and Meredith were looking impatient to go and see the babies. They were sorry that their father had missed the event. The nursery maid walked in with Nicky and Ethan enquired about the boy.  
‘He is upset because Papa is away,’ said Charley, ‘he does not understand that Papa cannot take him everywhere all the time,’ she kneeled down in front of the boy and took him in her arms, ‘Tu ne dois pas pleurer, Papa va revenir, et nous t’aimons tous autant que lui.’  
(You musn’t cry, Papa will come home and we all love you as much as he does)  
Ethan looked at her in astonishment, ‘you speak French to him? Why? Is that not confusing him?’  
Charley shrugged, ‘It did not confuse me, or Meredith either even though he was older than me when he was spoken to in both English and French. You know, Simona spoke Italian to me as well and I was not confused either.’  
Ethan asked, ‘so who speaks French to Nicky?’  
‘Papa, Meredith, Loïk, Simona, and me.’  
‘And was Meredith also taught Italian then? What about Nicky?’  
‘Yes, Meredith was. I was taught Italian because my mother is Italian. Papa thought that I should know the language of my mother’s country, just like he was taught English because it was his mother’s tongue. Meredith liked the sound of it, and it was easier if we all talked in Italian with Simona. Nicky is just taught French for the moment.’  
Ethan did not ask anymore, there was much he would have liked to. Ian’s way of educating his children was most unusual. He was not convinced that learning 2 languages at the same time had nothing to do with Nick’s late talking skills. At least it provided a satisfactory explanation to him.


	3. A ghost from the past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yannick visits his business and his friends in Falmouth. An evening he had looked forward to does not live up to expectations, quite the contrary.

Yannick was pleased with the day he had with Jonathan first at the copper mine, then at the clay works. They had met the engineer and the mine manager and decided on extending the mining under the sea, the 2 experts were confident that the lode would be profitable soon. Orders were given for a steam engine to be brought to pump the water out. Yannick had been adamant, he refused to put the men at risk unnecessarily although he had to accept that mining was a dangerous business. He was pleased to be able to inform them at least that a surgeon would be attending in case of an accident.   
They had returned home late, and Yannick had departed early next morning for Falmouth. He had hated seeing the silent tears on Nicky’s face, the little one had already cried after being left behind on the previous day and Yannick wondered if he had been right to take him with him so much. He had done it with Charley while on board Danae, but when he could not take her along with him, she had accepted his absence without problems, so he had expected Nicky to do the same. Only he didn’t, every time Yannick left him, he cried his heart out and broke Yannick’s in turn. This time he would be away for 3 days, 2 if he could manage it, but on returning he promised himself that he would try to find a solution about Nicky’s insecurities.  
In Falmouth, Yannick visited his wine shop and warehouse as he did every month. A shipment had come in only a week ago and the warehouse was full. As usual, his shop manager had seen that the casks were properly stored and secured in the warehouse. He was very happy to report that thanks to a recommendation from Lord Trewin, their order book was looking good. In fact, it was the best it had ever been. Yannick and the manager talked for a while, planning the next move to sell more wine. The autumn fairs were going to start in the area and Yannick wished to have stalls in as many as they could.  
The manager had taken on 2 extra workers to bottle both the claret and the brandy ordered by the new customer. Yannick was very pleased, he asked for a cask of claret be delivered to Lord Trewin in thanks. Richard and Amber were expecting him for dinner, the date had been arranged previously.

Yannick used the time had free to visit the boatyard where small vessels were put up for sale. He had been thinking for a long while of buying a bigger boat for the family, one he could safely take across to France if he fancied doing so.   
This was not his first visit to the boatyard; so far, he had not seen the boat he was looking for.   
This time, his eyes noticed a sleek little cutter he immediately liked the look of. Her name was ‘La mouette.’ The name appealed to him: his first sea command had been an English prize named ‘Seagull’. He asked to go onboard. The boatyard owner was only too pleased to let him. The tide was low, the little vessel was leaning in the sand, deprived of its masts. The two men walked in the mud and climbed a ladder to get on board. The boatyard owner told Yannick that she was a French prize, she had been taken at the end of the war, her masts had needed to be replaced but the war had ended before the navy had her repaired and now she was put up for sale instead of being commissioned.   
Yannick had a careful look at the hull, checked it inside and out, and found it sound. She was not an old boat, far from it. The cabins were tiny but could be made comfortable. He was well aware of the fact that it was going to be costly to refit. But he missed the sea so much…and this little beauty would fly on the water.   
By the time he left the yard, he had not only bought ‘La mouette’ but had also ordered her full refit.

He was now impatient for a leisurely evening with his friends and he made his way to their house after first returning to the flat to get changed. He was greeted by the gracious Amber who linked her arm to his and told him that several other guests were going to be present at tonight’s dinner. Yannick was a little put out by the news, he had hoped for a peaceful evening with only Richard and Amber.   
Amber informed him that one of the guests was the man who had much enjoyed his wine and had bought 2 casks from him. The man, Ashley Coombe, had served in the navy. He was the son of a friend of Richard, Admiral Lord Asquith. Ashley Coombe was here with his newly-wedded-wife Lady Evelyn and a couple of friends of his. Yannick had heard of Captain Ashley Coombe, of course. The man had a reputation for hating the French, much as Lord Nelson had. Yannick was in a mind of telling Amber nicely that he would prefer to not attend the dinner, but he was too late, she had walked him quickly towards the sitting room while chatting away and as the door opened he had no more opportunity to withdraw without being impolite.  
Richard saw him and went to greet him cheerfully, then he introduced him to the now-retired naval officer and his wife who were standing nearby. The usual compliments were exchanged, and Richard turned towards the other couple in the room who had been standing off a little, near the window and admiring the view.   
Yannick bowed to the man, introduced as the Principe di Perinera, then he turned to the Principessa di Perinera. She held her hand to him as good manners asked her to, but her face looked as if all blood had been drained off and he thought that her colour probably matched his own to perfection. He bowed and took her hand although his lips did not touch it.

She was still beautiful, nearly as much as she had been 13 years ago when he had married her in Paris.  
The situation reminded Yannick of the one he had faced when meeting Thomas at the assembly ball. This time though he was conscious that Julia had probably even less desire than he had for their past history to be revealed. He had no wish for small talk though, he felt trapped and he did not like it. He bowed slightly to the Italian couple and walked away toward Amber. It was not a polite way to behave in a good society, but he did not care right now. He saw that Amber was surprised by his apparent snubbing of the foreigners, he would explain to his friends at another time.  
‘They both speak English, you know, the Principessa better than her husband,’ informed Amber with a smile, she frowned when he did not return it; a footman appeared with a tray full of glasses, Amber took one and Yannick did as well. He was thinking of a way out of this dinner without offending his friends and realised that it was near impossible. Also, he remembered that Amber had told him that Ashley Coombe had bought 2 casks of his wine, he had to play along for the sake of his business, he needed the custom.  
‘I apologize, Amber, the lady reminded me of someone I once knew, and it unsettled me, that’s all,’ he lied, as he decided to play the game for his business’s sake. He returned with Amber toward the Italians and apologized, bowing again to them, he had been at a loss of what to say, he had not realised they spoke English. The Principe bowed as well and said a few words with a terrible accent. Yannick took a closer look at him, he was at least 10 years older than himself, he was not bad looking but there was a sufficient air about him which spoiled his looks in Yannick’s point of view.  
‘Dinner is served,’ announced the butler, and they made their way to the dining room.

7 was an odd number to have around the table. Lord Trewin sat at the head of the table, Yannick was placed next to the Italian Principe with Amber opposite him.   
Lord and Lady Trewin led the conversations as good hosts should, Yannick marveled at the topics they managed to find to keep people who had nothing in common carry on talking around the table. Yannick joined in politely and noticed quickly than the Italian man on his left never spoke to him directly. He caught several of his remarks regarding society and how classes should not mix, or disaster would arise as the French revolution had proved. He suddenly realised that the man had labeled him ‘trade’ and therefore not worthy of his company. It lifted his spirits up, as his mischievous side woke up and he started to enjoy the meal. He played his own little game, deliberately talking to the Italian and pushing him as much as he could to see how far the snubbing fool would go not to answer to him directly.   
Amber caught on, of course. She started to praise Yannick’s quality wines and spirits, asked him if it was true that he sometimes helped to bottle the wine himself. He answered that he did, sometimes, mainly before Christmas when his employees could not cope, he went on to say that he picked up his casks himself from Plymouth with one of his men and carted them back to Falmouth. Upon noticing that his neighbour was moving slightly away from him to make sure that their sleeves did not brush, he couldn’t resist telling them about his pilchards’ business in Porthdowns. Amber was finding it increasingly difficult by now to keep a straight face. Lady Evelyn, who had not contributed much to the conversation decided to join in. She informed them that her husband would not have bought Yannick’s wine if it had come from another area of France of course. Yannick smiled at her:   
‘His lordship prefers Claret best, I assume,’ he said, and the silly woman replied:   
‘Not at all, that’s because my husband thinks Aquitaine is really English territory.’   
She looked at her husband, ‘do you not think so, my dear?’   
Lord Trewin coughed, distracting everyone. Yannick stood stock still, desperately fighting against speaking the scalding remark that came to his mind. Julia had paled, she had looked at him and probably saw the anger in his eyes. Ashley Coombe approved, he asked Yannick how he got on with his ‘négociant’. Yannick did not elaborate:   
‘Fine, thank you,’ was all he could manage to answer. Lord Trewin stirred the conversation to another subject, but unfortunately, he made matters worse.  
‘I visited Captain Adams at the Admiralty office yesterday,’ he told Yannick, ‘and told him of your coming to Falmouth, he sends his regards and hopes that you will call on him and Alicia,’  
Yannick nodded, ‘I intend to visit them tomorrow, take them out to lunch if Thomas can escape the Admiralty for an hour or so during the daytime,’   
Richard smiled, ‘I am sure he will, he will be delighted.’  
‘Are you talking about that same Captain Thomas Adams who was in that disgraceful squadron who let Mersac escape?’ asked Ashley.  
‘You are unfair, sir,’ burst Yannick, ‘the squadron did not disgrace itself, they did everything they possibly could in the circumstances.’  
‘And since when does a wine and pilchards seller knows anything about naval affairs?’ Ashley had drunk too much, as his red face revealed, and Yannick chastised himself. He should have kept quiet, not let himself get provoked by the man. He was not sure how to defuse the situation, luckily the meal was nearly over. The Italian Principe laughed aloud. He was the only one though, an embarrassed silence settled in the room.  
Lord Trewin gave Ashley a cold look, ‘sir, your father is a dear friend of mine, but I don’t believe that this gives you the right to insult two of my closest friends in my own house. Captain Adams career is laudable he has done an excellent job here in Falmouth at the admiralty, and Ian’s words echo the ones he has heard pronounced many times by good naval officers, including myself.’  
Ashley shrugged; he knew he should apologize but he did not. He took another swill of wine instead. The butler approached Lord Trewin and asked if the ladies were ready to withdraw to the drawing-room. He nodded and Amber immediately rose from the table followed by Julia and Lady Evelyn. Yannick rose also, he approached Lord Trewin, thanked him for the evening, and told him he wished to take his leave. After a small bow to the ladies, he was out of the room.

What an evening! To think of how much he had been looking forward to it as a perfect way to end a perfect day. What a disaster instead! It dawned on him that Julia had not said more than a dozen words all night and he felt sorry for Amber stuck on her own between a sulky Italian princess and a very stupid English Lady. He would call again tomorrow to apologize for his own behaviour and tell them why he had not been quite himself tonight.  
The next morning, he went shopping, as much for distraction than because he had been given a long list of things to get in Falmouth by about everyone at the manor. He thought ruefully that he was definitely too soft with them. They were so good to him though; he knew that he would have found this last year far more difficult to cope with without their attentiveness towards him. Mrs. Harvey had been like a second mother to him, he was incredibly grateful to her for her support. She was a strong woman to be able to help him despite her own pain at losing Hadrian also. Her birthday was coming up. He walked into the jeweler shop; he knew exactly what present to buy. He came out with a box containing a lovely gold watch. A practical gift she would use, but also an expensive one to show her how much she meant to him.  
He finished his shopping and returned to his rooms above his shop to drop his purchases there before calling at Alicia’s. She was pleased to see him and even more so when he told her of his intention to take her and Thomas out to lunch this very day. Thomas was delighted with the plan and the 3 of them settled at a table for lunch in the best restaurant of Falmouth.

Yannick apologized to Thomas for the lack of contact since Hadrian’s death. He had found it hard to be with him because he could not cope with the memories they shared. Thomas appreciated Yannick’s honesty, but then he always had. He had been hurt because Yannick had not spoken to him about the actual circumstances of Hadrian’s death and he could not help but tell him this. Yannick realised that he could now bring himself to tell Thomas, and he did. Thomas was shocked to find out that the thugs and their master did not pay for their crime. Yannick hesitated, then said quietly, ‘they paid, Thomas,’ there was a question mark in Thomas’s expression, together with a hopeful look, and Yannick nodded. The conversation continued on lighter topics, Alicia told him that she was expecting their second child, asked for news of Yannick’s own children. He told her about Nicky and his difficulties. It was such a pleasant lunch, no comparison with the previous evening. Yannick invited them to come for 2 or 3 days at the manor, choose the date, he said, don’t leave it too long. Thomas returned to the Admiralty and Yannick accompanied Alicia back to her own house.

He called at the wine shop before making his way to Richard and Amber’s house. The shop assistant handed him a letter which had been delivered to him while he was out. Only his name appeared on the envelope. He took it upstairs to his rooms to read it in peace.   
The letter was from Julia. It was not a long letter, but it was a strange one. Julia started to accuse him of stealing her daughter and endangering her life when he took her back to France with him whereas the child would have been safe and well cared for if she had remained in Sorano. She went on describing how precipitated her departure from Tuscany had been, she had been left with little choice but to leave the child behind. She complained about how difficult it had been for her to obtain an annulment from the pope of this marriage she had been forced to agree to. Yannick could not believe his eyes reading these words full of resentment. He seriously wondered if the woman was deranged, the way she rewrote their history. He continued reading, nevertheless. She said that she was happily married to the Principe, but that she could not bear his children. In the absence of a male heir, her lands would go to her only legitimate daughter, Victoria Horatia. She told Yannick that she wanted him to send the girl to her so that she could educate her as the future ruler of Sorano. She was going to Bath with Ashley and Lady Evelyn, but he could send word to her via Ashley’s parents at Westmoor Abbey because she would be returning there and would wait for her daughter there.   
Yannick rubbed his eyes and read the letter again once or twice. This time he was certain that she was mad. He put the letter in his pocket and made his way to his friends’ house. He started with an apology for his behaviour during the dinner, then he explained who Julia really was. Richard and Amber were shocked. They knew that he had made an unhappy marriage and they understood how great his discomfort must have been. He showed them the letter Julia had written and asked for their opinion.  
They read the letter carefully. Yannick had never told them the details of his separation from Julia, only that he had brought Charley up himself. He related the details to them now. Richard put the letter down and could not help smiling as he said, ‘Victoria Horatia, Eh? Wasn’t she born on…?’ One look into his friend’s eyes told him not to continue. Yannick had a fair sense of humour but maybe not on everything after all…   
Yannick shook his head helplessly, ‘you know I could laugh about this. I don’t know what’s in her head but it’s not good. I still have the letter she wrote to me and left behind at her villa before running away to England. Simona told me that she left Tuscany only about 2 weeks after Charley’s birth, the letter is not dated but she does mention her date of birth in the letter and she could not have heard at the time she left that it coincided with the English victory at Trafalgar. Besides she never even said clearly that the child had been christened. My concern is for Charley, she knows who her mother is and the full circumstances by which I came to bring her up. I have not hidden anything from her, but I don’t know if I should mention this letter to her or the fact that her mother is in England and not very far from here either. What is your advice on this, shall I bother writing back or let it drop and see what’s next?’  
Amber answered first: ‘Does it worry you that Charley might want to know her?’   
Yannick rubbed his face in his hands a minute before saying helplessly, ‘yes. I never worried before because Charley had always known that her mother did not want her in her life that she had not wanted to be married to me. Charley did not have a choice before, but now she could want to meet her. Julia told me she wished to forget what she called “a sorry episode of her life”, so how dare she disturb our lives now?’   
Richard thought for a few minutes then: ‘The way I see it, is that Charley has a right to know about this letter, however painful this must be for you to mention it to her. She is intelligent and adores you, but if you hide it from her, I think it will damage your future relationship in the likelihood that she finds out. Now I understand your concern about Julia’s state of mind. Julia and her husband are staying at Lord Asquith’s who is Ashley’s father and a good friend of mine. I could visit him with Amber. We could talk to him about his son’s visit and about Julia. We know that Julia and her friends are going to Bath for a few days before returning to Westmoor abbey. What do you think?’   
Yannick agreed. Richard and Amber promised Yannick that they would travel to Devon as early as tomorrow for a visit.  
On a lighter note, Yannick asked Amber how the evening went after his departure. She laughed, ‘you must not be too hard on your judgment of Ashley; it must be extremely tiring to spend your days with such a stupid wife by your side!’   
Yannick laughed as well, ‘he should go back to the navy then, and concentrate on the reconquest of Aquitaine singlehandedly for his king and country!’   
Richard joined the merriment, ‘poor Lord Asquith, he is a decent man, he does not deserve that son of his.’   
‘Tell me,’ said Amber, addressing Yannick, ‘what did you think of the man Julia chose to replace you in her bed?’   
‘My dear, I assure you, you don’t want to know what I think!’  
‘Just one or two words, please,’ she begged.  
Yannick remained stubbornly silent and so her husband sighed deeply and answered instead, ‘Pampered parrot,’ he said, ‘let’s change subject now. Tell me what’s new at Rosemarkie, I say, you look a lot better than the last time I saw you.’  
Yannick thanked him, he acknowledged that he was better, he talked about the children, about his decision about extending the mine, and the imminent confinement of Simona. He eventually mentioned that a doctor was settling down at Porthdowns, his childhood home village. He told Richard that the man’s studies had been sponsored by a philanthropist naval captain. Richard asked for his name, but Yannick did not know it. The couple agreed that it was all good news indeed. Yannick mentioned his lunch with Thomas and Alicia and his invitation for them to visit. He extended the invitation to Richard and Amber. He then took his leave of his friends, he wished to return to Rosemarkie today, the days were still long enough to allow late traveling, and he preferred being at home as soon as possible. Richard promised to send a messenger as soon as he had news from their visit to Lord Asquith and they parted.

He made it back at the manor just before night had totally fallen. Charley and Meredith were delighted to see him back sooner than they had expected. They told him the great news of Simona and Loïk being the proud parents of twins. Yannick was very happy for them and he went in search of Loïk to congratulate him and see if he could have a glimpse of the little ones and their mother tonight.  
Charley and Meredith were only too pleased to take over carrying the boxes and bags that filled almost all available space in their father’s phaeton. Nicky was still up and happy too to carry one or two of the small items his father had brought.  
Loïk was in the kitchen waiting for the cook to give him a tray with Simona’s supper for him to carry upstairs. Yannick embraced him, full of joy for him, the two men made their way up to Simona’s bedroom where it was her turn to have a hug from Yannick before he looked in wonder at the two new-borns in their crib. They had to share one for the moment, explained Loïk until another one was made. He noticed that although they were happy, they were also tired, so he kissed them goodnight and went back downstairs to spend time with his own brood.  
They had emptied the phaeton in record time. The drawing-room was full of unopened parcels and boxes and among them were 3 impatient looking youngsters dying to know if everything written on their lists had been bought. Yannick was exhausted, he told them that he wished to wait until morning before opening their parcels, but he was met with such indignant looks from the 2 adolescents that he gave up. He allowed them to open everything which had their names on, then he sat down with a large brandy and watched them fondly. He smiled to himself thinking of their reaction when they’d discover that he had bought ‘La mouette’. He was keeping this as a surprise, for them to see only when she was fully refitted and ready to sail.  
Meredith had asked for more painting material and a new easel as well as new gloves, Charley had ordered some lace for herself and a proper set of brushes for her hair. Since Mary had become her maid, she had shown interest in more feminine matters, trying out different hairstyles with Mary emphasising the need for real good brushes to her. Charley had expressed the wish to have it cut several times, but she had met with definite opposition from her father who would not be moved on the subject. She had even attempted to cut it herself a few years back; they had been on board Danae and her father had punished her severely, she was confined to his quarters for a week, her only company had been her father for lessons and Meredith; for fresh air, she’d had to content herself with sitting or standing on the ship’s open gallery.   
Mary showed her that her hair could be piled up on top of her head in different styles and Charley thought that it was an acceptable compromise to her lingering desire to have it cut. Nicky had not asked for anything, he was too young to know what he could have really. Yannick had bought him wooden toys, small farm animals, spinning tops, and a wooden sword. The spinning tops fascinated him, he applauded, laughed, and jumped up and down after he managed to get them going, copying Meredith’s gestures. Yannick had never seen him as excited as this.   
They thanked him and kissed him, but after an hour or so he sent them up to bed. Charley took Nick’s hand to take him upstairs and he accepted to go after Meredith promised to carry most of the toys to his bedroom and deliver him to his nursery maid.

They were growing up fast, Yannick mused. In another year he would reach his 40th birthday. He thought back to the last 10 years, it felt odd, 10 years was a long time and yet it did not feel that long since Charley had spoken her first words, since he had held the trembling Meredith into his arms, promising to care for him after he had found him, thin, dirty and terrified under that table. Yannick had never really worried before about getting old, but tonight he did. He had always lived for the present, did what seemed right for now, his past decisions had been based on what to do to survive; at first, it had only been his life and then the lives of the crews on board the ships he had commanded and then he had become a father with even greater responsibility; he had to get it right to ensure that they all lived for another day and remained free, but he realised that his attitude had changed since arriving in England.   
The situation had changed. He had a house, lands, he still had responsibilities for people who needed him to make the right decisions for them to survive, but now it was not just for another day, he was planning for years ahead and as he tried to remember when it had started to happen, he realised that it was as soon as he had felt at home at Rosemarkie Manor. He had loved the place at first sight, it was a safe harbour for him. He also realised, a little guiltily, that it was probably because he had not been threatened of having to run away again that he had taken Hadrian’s death without going through the deep dark depression he had felt on the previous winter when he had feared that Thomas would disclose his identity to all and he would have had to run from his home to protect his children.  
Yannick missed Hadrian sorely, but he knew he had to live without him, it was not beyond anyone’s will to change this, so he had to get on with his life. It did not stop him to cry himself to sleep on bad nights, but he always felt a little better afterwards in the morning; he knew it was all part of mourning. He also knew that he was not alone in the house to mourn Hadrian. Charley, Meredith, Mrs. Harvey, and John had been the most affected around him. They had grown closer to each other, there was a strange unspoken feeling between them, they did not mention Hadrian by name, but still managed to evoke him sometimes, sadly at first, but more cheerfully as time went on, recalling events or words, laughing even. Or so he thought anyway, perhaps for his own sake.

Time healed. That was true, thought Yannick, but at the same time he was getting old, he was physically active, walking, sparring, riding, and swimming at least one of these daily, but that did not stop his body slowing down, getting tired more easily a little more each year. His shoulder pained him more so in winter, it was often stiff in the morning, the scar itching and pulling despite the years. As usual, his positive attitude about all things reminded him that he was very lucky to have survived the large splinter which had embedded itself deep in his shoulder, tearing muscles as it went in. He had suffered fever for several days, the physician had told him afterward that he had not expected him to live, a lethal infection had been the main worry because no vital organ had been damaged by the splinter. These thoughts brought him back to Charley. What would have happened to the child if he had not survived? Julia could not have returned to Sorano before 1814 so who would have brought his daughter up? He hoped that at least Simona would have been a constant in her life? He rubbed his eyes again, he was tired, he needed to get to bed and stop this silly ‘what if’ which led nowhere.  
He followed the children up to bed himself. He had decided to wait before telling Charley about the meeting with her mother and the letter she had sent. Richard and Amber would know more about the woman’s state of mind soon and he hoped that he would then be able to answer the questions that Charley was sure to fire at him after his disclosure.  
He was going to concentrate on other things for now. Like Ethan’s settling in at Porthdowns. Ethan. His body reacted immediately as the picture of the tall and broad man filled his mind. He could get used to having Ethan in his bed, he thought, very easily indeed. And for the first time in many months, when he stroked himself, he did not think of intense blue eyes watching him, but of lovely soft grey ones instead.


	4. Charley's surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Yannick concentrates on the estate business and on his happy relationship with his new lover, he misjudges his daughter's feelings totally. It's a bad mistake for Charley is not one to let her opinions unsaid.

Yannick got up late the next morning, he missed breakfast with the children and was nearly late for his daily meeting with Jonathan. He managed to call on Simona to check on her and the twins before seeing his steward. Jonathan talked about the lodge, of how much the repairs would cost. He pointed out that the material would not cost much and he would employ the same crew of men he did for maintaining the various buildings on the estate. Yannick agreed, the sooner the lodge would be habitable the better, he said, the doctor could not examine his patients at ‘the black dog’ public house.   
Jonathan mentioned a few other matters about the estate running, the miners were looking forward to the arrival of the steam engine which would trigger the start of the mine extension; with winter coming the men were glad to know that their income was guaranteed. The fields and their own vegetable patches had yielded very little for the second year running, the pigs were not as fat as they should be and their meat would probably not feed them all winter; without money to buy food, they were worried about going hungry before spring.  
Jonathan had another matter to discuss, one he knew his employer would not be very interested in.   
‘There was a parish meeting last night, as you know the vicar died last month. A new vicar needs to be appointed and you hold the advowson, sir. Do you have a candidate for the living?’  
‘Me?’ Yannick laughed, ‘come on Jonathan, you know very well, I haven’t!’  
‘I thought maybe you could have discussed it with Lord Trewin and that he might have recommended someone.’  
Yannick nodded thoughtfully, ‘I should have done, shouldn’t I? You told me that I had to appoint a new vicar after the funeral. Lord Trewin is going away today. Wait, there is a curate doing all the work isn’t it? He conducted the funeral service.’  
‘Yes, sir, the currently appointed curate has been in the parish for 6 years. He will continue to conduct his duties until a vicar is appointed, after, well it depends on the new vicar if he needs him or not.’  
‘Can’t he become the vicar? I mean he has been performing all the duties, and as far as I can judge these things, the funeral service was just right; I never understood why the vicar was paid although another did all the work.’  
Jonathan coughed then answered: ‘That’s the way it is, sir. The vicar was appointed to the living by the previous owner of the estate, and he, in turn, paid for the service of a curate to do his duties for him. A curate can become a vicar after 4 years of service.’   
‘I met the vicar of course when I took over the estate. He became a friend of the Crofts. He always despised me for not inviting him up to the manor for Sunday lunches,’ he sighed, ‘I’m afraid, I am a deplorable diplomat, Jonathan, I cannot invite people I do not like at my table.’ He bit his lower lip and tapped his fingers lightly on his desk, signs that Jonathan recognized by now, more words would follow soon, ‘this curate, what is he like, as a man, I mean?’  
Jonathan hid a smile, ‘he is well-liked in the village. He is honest and hard-working, as you can imagine, as well as doing all the duties incumbent to a vicar, he also cultivates a small piece of land on the common to feed himself.’   
‘Because he does not earn enough money to live on?’  
‘He got £35 a year from the vicar.’  
Yannick’s eyebrows lifted in surprise, ‘the living cost me £300! And I maintain the vicarage for which he paid no rent!’  
Jonathan smiled again, the irony of the smile did not escape Yannick, ‘the vicar had a wife and 5 children to feed, sir.’  
‘And the curate?’  
‘Can’t afford a wife, sir, unfortunately for him; he has to pay for lodgings as well as feeding and clothing himself.’  
‘Now, answer my question fully, please, what is he like as a man, hardworking you said, yes, but why is he liked in the parish, is he compassionate, caring? You sit on the parish meetings on my behalf, and I assume he does too.’  
Jonathan took a deep breath, ‘he is compassionate and caring, sir, but you need to know that he is also a friend of mine. The suggestions he makes in the parish meetings generally meet with my approval because they mean to improve people’s life. I should tell you that if he could afford it, he would become my brother-in-law.’  
‘Ask him to call on me today, will you? I should like to meet this young man, I only saw him briefly after the funeral to thank him, I should have stopped and talked with him then. Has the vicar’s wife left the vicarage?’  
‘Yes, sir, she has.’  
‘Right, look around the property, will you, maybe it needs some refreshing work before a new vicar is appointed. That’s all for today I think unless you have other matters to discuss?’  
‘No, sir, that’s all, thank you.’

Yannick nodded, and the two men left the office. On his way to the nursery to pick up Nicky and take him for a walk, Yannick met Ethan in the corridor. They stood awkwardly for a few seconds before greeting each other. Ethan explained that he had been checking up on Simona and the twins. Yannick told him about his decision to get the lodge refurbished in the best possible time. After a few more uneasy silent seconds, Yannick invited him to dinner for that same night, he noticed the immediate happy spark in the other man’s eyes.  
‘We’ll have a lot to discuss, so it may be best if you spent the night here if you don’t mind.’  
Ethan bowed, then he looked up, obviously happy at the prospect of another night spent at the manor.  
Yannick moved on to the nursery to take his younger son out while the weather held on. He intended to spend the day with the child, they walked out to the large stone covered terrace surrounding the house then down the steps towards the lower terraces, after that, they followed down the winding path where Nick could run as he wished. Nick had brought one of the toys his father gifted him with on the previous day. It was a stick with a horse head on top and a wheel at the bottom Nick could hold and pretend to mount. Yannick had seen the envious looks the child gave Charley and Meredith who had their own ponies. He took him up on his own horse often and Nick loved it. He would have to get him a pony soon, he thought how lucky Nick was to be able to learn to mount early, Charley and Meredith had only started learning 3 years ago. Charley was an excellent rider, just like her mother. He chastised himself, he must not think about her. Not before Richard and Amber came back anyway.

After lunch, he proposed a game of croquet on the terrace, Miss Leary joined in, happy to be out in the fresh air for a change. They did not notice a young man coming up the terraces from the village and looking a little embarrassed at the players. He cleared his voice to attract attention and Yannick recognised the young curate.   
‘I take it that you’ve seen Jonathan and that he gave you my message?’  
‘I have, sir, and he did,’ he bowed respectfully to Yannick.  
Yannick invited him to follow him inside. He noticed with pleasure that Nick did not drop what he was doing to run after him. He continued to play with his siblings instead.  
The young curate, he was 27, answered all the questions fired at him about the parish to Yannick’s satisfaction. When asked what he would do if the new vicar did not take him on, he admitted that it would be heartache for him and for the girl he intended to marry. He said he had been saving money for marrying, but that he would have to use it to live on instead until he found another position. He hoped that at least he could find one in Cornwall or Devon, not too far from his intended.   
‘Who gives curate a position? And how does one graduate from curate to vicar?’ Yannick asked, genuinely interested,   
‘a curate needs to gain at least 4 years in a parish before he can pretend to become a vicar. To become a vicar, one needs to have his name put forward to the bishop by a patron. A position as curate is obtained from a vicar, one generally too old to keep on conducting his duties, a vicar is appointed to a parish for life.’   
‘I see, one needs to get it right then when one appoints a vicar. What steps have you taken to obtain another position?’  
‘I have written to my teachers and to friends to ask them if they were aware of any vacant curate positions, rather than to wait for the new vicar’s arrival in case he does not wish to appoint me.’  
‘If I understand the system correctly, you can now become a vicar yourself, so why not look for such a position instead?’   
The young man smiled, ‘I have no influential patrons, sir, my teachers can only give me recommendation letters. My father is a bank clerk and he has managed to pay for my studies to become a curate, but our family, although respectable, has no influence.’   
Yannick did not comment and the young curate continued, ‘Jonathan told me that you have not chosen a candidate yet. I will of course conduct my duties until you do.’  
‘That’s not quite true, actually. I had no candidate this morning when I spoke to Jonathan. I have now. May I take it that you do not object if I write to the bishop today and give him your name for the position?’  
The young man put his hands over his mouth as if in prayer, his eyes suddenly too bright.  
‘I forgot, there’s a condition to my offer. I want to be invited to your wedding.’  
‘Oh, sir, you would do me such an honour if you came!’  
Yannick smiled; he was never happier than when he could help someone in need. The young man in front of him was as honest as he thought he might be, being as he was, a friend of Jonathan. He let him go, no doubt that celebrations were on tonight at Jonathan’s mother’s house. Jonathan’s father had passed away last year, the poor man had completely lost his mind over the years and he had been found frozen in the snow after he had walked out of the cottage in the middle of the night. Jonathan’s mother had blamed herself for not waking up at the time, she had been so exhausted looking after him day after day that she had slept too deeply to hear. The young curate had helped her through these difficult moments and that was how he had formed a tender relationship with Rosen, Jonathan’s sister.   
The villagers would be pleased to have a vicar who knew them and cared. Yannick thought that he could invite this young man and his wife to the manor later on and so improve the relationship between the manor and the vicarage.  
Feeling happy because of his good deed, he went for a walk and chose to go to the lodge. He had never entered the place and he was curious to look inside, before work started. In fact, he discovered that work had already started. Jonathan had not lost any time. There were men on the roof, removing the damaged slates and others removing debris from inside.

Yannick managed to get inside to have a look. All windows were opened, and the floor littered with the floorboards taken down from the upper floor. He did not go inside, not wanting to disturb the working men, already they had stopped and waited, expecting his questions probably. He told them he was impressed by how quickly work had started and told them he would not make a nuisance of himself.  
He walked down to the village next and to the vicarage. He realised that he had never entered this house either. Jonathan was one of the wardens, and he had a key. Even better he was at home. He blushed when he saw Yannick on his doorstep, probably feeling guilty because his employer was finding him at home late afternoon. Yannick smiled at him and asked if he could show him the vicarage.   
‘Do you approve my choice of a vicar?’ he asked teasingly, Jonathan beamed at him.   
‘You have no idea how much. I had never seen Rosen so happy.’  
‘There’s just for you to settle now, then. But maybe your mother would prefer it if you stayed at home a little longer.’  
‘Well, I am not living with her any longer, sir, I sleep in my cottage. There is a girl I like, but I am not sure how she feels about me.’  
Yannick laughed, ‘ask her! Are you shy?’  
‘Yes, very much so. But I’ll have to declare myself soon or another might, and I would be devastated if I found out later that I missed my chance.’  
‘You should. I think that I have been a little selfish, Jonathan, I have worked you to the ground, did not let you have much of a life outside the estate. We should recruit a secretary to help you with your tasks. I shall leave the choice to you, we can think together about wording an advert unless you already have someone in mind.’   
‘I haven’t, sir, no. My work has been easier since Mrs. Harvey joined us. She has helped me with the estate accounts as well as taking over the household management.’  
‘I know, and I am grateful to her for her help, but with the businesses expanding it would be wise to get extra help now, before we get overwhelmed with work. So, you see, you have no excuses for not starting to court your young lady seriously.’  
Jonathan smiled, his employer was right, he had been envious of the happiness displayed last night by Rosen and Simon, he wanted to feel as they do: he would talk to Demelza later when he called at the manor for his supper.  
They entered the vicarage. It was a large house, rather dark and uninviting.   
‘I hope it is sound,’ said Yannick.  
‘Yes, it is, I looked at it this morning, no leaking roofs or bad rafters, floorboards or anything of the kind. I did not realise that the furniture was not the vicar’s own, but that it belonged to the house. No money needs to be spent here, sir, just a good cleaning.’  
‘It’s sinister,’ commented Yannick, ‘it needs complete redecoration. Get Rosen and her young man in here, they can choose the decoration they wish, the same for the furniture. What they don’t like can be stored in the attic or sold off. The bishop should not be too long in answering my letter, I hope. I have no idea how these things work.’  
They visited all the rooms, before leaving the place. Yannick remembered the state Rosemarkie Manor had been in when he had first entered it. He was certain that this place would soon be as cheerful as his own home was now in no time.  
He made his way back up using the winding path connecting the terraces. The view he had of the sea and the cliffs far away in the distance was breathtaking. He missed the sea. Last two years the weather had been so bad they had hardly taken their little boat out. He had been foolish to swim in that sea too. He should not have endangered his life this way. Hadrian’s death had also reminded him that even young men could die unexpectedly in peacetime. He had never wanted to think too much about it before because it frightened him to think that his children would be left on their own. Now thankfully, he was reassured on that point. Anne-Laure and Louis would be there for them. He shook off his dark thoughts and turned them towards more pleasant things, like tonight’s dinner and a handsome man in his bed later.  
Ethan joined them soon before dinner. He called on Simona, he was finding her tired. She insisted on breastfeeding the twins and consequently did not have much time to rest herself. Loïk spent nearly all his days at his wife’s bedside although she was chiding him for it, telling him he should enjoy himself in the company of the other members of the family.  
The dinner went well, conversation seemed to flow as easily as the last time according to Yannick. He failed to notice that Charley was quieter than usual, not talking so much, he also missed the not altogether nice look she gave Ethan as she left the dining room to retire to her room.  
With Simona asleep, Loïk came down and joined Miss Leary, Yannick, and Ethan for after-dinner drinks before they all made their way upstairs.  
Yannick and Ethan kissed passionately as soon as the door of the drawing-room was closed behind them. They immediately started to struggle with their clothing, trying as much as they could to keep on kissing as they undressed. Yannick, short of breath, finally pushed Ethan away a little and said, half laughing,   
‘Stop it or we won’t make it to the bed,’ Ethan looked at him and replied huskily,   
‘So? Is it a problem if we don’t?’ Yannick looked hungrily into those light grey eyes and replied,  
‘No, take me now, please.’   
Ethan growled, by now they were only wearing their shirts, their pants discarded on the floor, he turned Yannick around and pushed him on his knees to the couch. In the same way that he had on the beach a few days previously, he spat on his erection and pushed himself all the way inside the beautiful body which was so eager to receive him. He linked his arms around his lover’s waist, his hands finding the other man’s private parts, caressing him until they both reached their climax at about the same time. They separated, their positions lacked comfort, and they made it to the bed next door where they settled in each other’s arms, Ethan kissed Yannick tenderly and asked with concern:   
‘I promised myself that I wouldn’t be rough again with you. But I was, worse than on the beach, did I hurt you?’   
Yannick kissed him back, ‘you did not hurt me, and I like it rough, sometimes. I did today as I did on the beach; you gave me what I needed. Don’t worry yourself over it, I will tell you if I dislike what you do to me,’   
‘You promise?’   
‘Yes.’

They did not wake up late, despite a night spent with only a little sleep. They even managed to bathe and shave before they went down to breakfast. The family was assembled around the table just as they had been on the previous evening. Yannick failed to notice Charley’s frown when she saw him enter the dining room accompanied by Ethan. Loïk was sitting down with them, which was exceptional. He explained that Simona and the twins had finally managed to drop off to sleep, so he could afford the luxury of a breakfast downstairs. Apparently, the twins had again kept Simona awake demanding to be fed all night. She was worn out.  
‘Have you considered a wet nurse?’ Asked Ethan, Loïk shook his head, ‘Simona does not wish to let the twins out of her sight,’  
‘I understand, but the wet nurse could come to feed them only at night, until they sleep through, this way Simona could get some much-needed sleep. I know of at least one woman from the village with a good character who could help out if you wish,’  
Loïk looked at Yannick, ‘could this woman do it here? I mean, Simona will not let the twins out of the house,’  
‘Well, yes, of course, plenty of room for her to stay here, and you might want to keep her on afterward, two babies are going to be hard work for Simona,’  
Loïk nodded, ‘I’ll ask her, I hope she’ll agree, thank you, doctor.’  
Meredith asked, curious as always, ‘can women keep on producing milk forever?’  
Ethan smiled, ‘I am not sure about forever, but they can for several years after giving birth, that’s for sure. I must admit that I am not an expert on lady’s anatomy.’  
Charley stood up, ‘my father is not either. He prefers the company of men.’ She looked at her father with anger in her eyes and shouted, ‘how could you betray Hadrian so soon with him, how could you!’ And she stormed out of the room.

Yannick felt his body grow cold; his face suddenly drained of all colour. He was vaguely aware of Ethan gasping on his left. Miss Leary sitting opposite him put her hand to her mouth and Meredith just moaned, ‘Charley, no…,’ Yannick was unable to move, riveted to his chair, he felt as if he was not actually in the room at all, but rather the spectator of a tragic farce. Ethan stood up and Yannick heard him say, ‘I better take my leave,’ he bowed to the company and left the room. Yannick regained his composure.   
He noticed that Loïk’s hand was on his arm, he looked at his old friend sadly, ‘I got this all wrong didn’t I, I failed to see how much she hurt still.’   
Meredith whispered: ‘She did not get the chance to say goodbye and…,’   
Yannick nodded, ‘go on, speak your mind.’   
The young man inhaled deeply then continued: ‘There was so much left unsaid: you did not explain why you had argued with Hadrian, you made us leave his house and return to Cornwall without you. And when you came home you just said that Hadrian had died. Charley needed more than that, I did too, we all did. We knew you were hurting, but we were hurting too. We loved him very much, he was also part of our lives.’  
Yannick put his head in his hands. He could see it all too clearly now. He had misjudged how hard Hadrian’s death had affected them. The events in London had happened so fast that he had not taken the time to explain the quarrel or the attack and then after Hadrian had died he had been in too much pain to go into explanations; he had shut them out selfishly to concentrate on surviving his own pain and mourn his loss. He could see how wrong this attitude had been. They had respected his mourning, but he had been mistaken thinking that they had accepted Hadrian’s death and learned to live with it; all the time they had been hoping that he would eventually tell them what had happened. The unspoken feeling between them, he now realised had become resentment on Charley’s part and it became too much to put up with for her when he invited Ethan into his life.   
Ironically, he had only managed 2 days ago, therefore after his first encounter with Ethan, to tell Thomas what had happened in London. That encounter had given him hope that he was still able to desire another, after more than one year of non-existent sex drive. He did not feel in love with Ethan, he wanted him in his bed, and he was available, it was different from his story with Hadrian. There had been no game beforehand with Ethan, it had been much simpler, they had exchanged one look and they had fucked. Then, Ethan had been in the village, available and happy to come around at Yannick’s beck and call. No longing, no pain, no questions this time. He realised that he had no idea how Ethan felt about him if Charley’s words had hurt him too. He needed to think, he looked up and said:   
‘I am so sorry, Meredith, I can’t tell you right now, I need to be alone.’ And he got up and nearly ran to his rooms.

He locked his room. Different thoughts swirled in his head. He had underestimated their pain, he could accept that, but they had not questioned him about the facts. They had left it to him to guess their emotions at a time when he was too hurt to function normally. Charley’s reaction was unfair too, why should he spend what was left of his life alone in mourning; she was young and she would leave him to make her own life soon. He thought of Julia and her letter, it could not have come at a worse time. His head hurt, he needed to stop thinking, alcohol would bring oblivion, he knew. Hadrian and he had kept a few bottles in a cabinet of the private drawing-room. Some evenings, they had retired early and chosen this more private room to drink more heavily than usual because the activity that went on after their drinking was not suitable for the large drawing room downstairs. He had survived his pain without over-drinking after Hadrian’s death, but tonight he wasn’t going to.  
He found 4 open bottles in the cabinet. He took them to his bedroom and started to drink.


	5. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charley discovers that her rash words have affected her family in a way she had not anticipated.

Charley had got used to living on land, she liked it better here in England than she had in Paris. Papa had not said why he had suddenly decided to leave France, but she had not minded: she was used to traveling.   
She enjoyed horse riding, her cats and dogs, and the garden with the beautiful rose bushes she adored. She had not understood why her father had developed a dark mood one winter, she had felt helpless and far more worried than she’d let show. At that time, she also had to put up with her new tutor, Mr. Croft, and his condescending attitude toward her. She had not complained because Papa had enough problems already.  
When Papa had returned from his Oxford trip with a stranger, Hadrian, he was back to his normal self again and Charley was grateful to Hadrian for it. She soon found that she loved the man although he was taking a lot of her Papa’s time. She got even closer to Meredith, he was much better since Papa had got rid of Croft and replaced him with Miss Leary. She liked Miss Leary, at long last, she would not be held back in her passion for Greek and Latin on the pretext that girls had no need to know more than the basics as Mr. Croft had once told her.  
Then one day, in Falmouth, at the market, she had overheard men talks which had deeply troubled her. She had begged to be left to watch the horse sale. She had promised to stay where she was while Miss Leary and her father were looking to buy material for new curtains. Charley had no interest in curtains contrarily to her interest in horses. They had agreed, besides Meredith was perched on a fence, drawing as usual, and not far from her so that he could keep a discreet watch.   
The men were sailors and talking about the deplorable situation of the French navy, even worse than under Bonaparte, they said. One of the men mentioned her father’s name, saying that the king had made a mistake by dismissing his best admiral.   
So far, Charley had liked the conversation, to hear English sailors calling her father the best French admiral made her very proud, but then one other man started to talk about some bad deeds that her father had committed and he had heard off, they mentioned words like buggery, orgies, and rape and that he was, therefore, unworthy of his function. The man who had praised her father admitted that yes, the reports were most likely true, but did not take away the fact that he was a brilliant sailor. She did not hear anymore because the horse sale ended, and the men moved away, leaving her deeply shaken and at a loss of what to think.

She had been quiet on the way back to the manor, pleading tiredness when asked. The next day, she had got hold of Meredith and dragged him to her room, before telling him what she’d overheard and demanded that he explained the meaning of those words she had not understood.   
Meredith had groaned: he did not want to have this conversation with his younger sister, but he also knew that Charley would not give up and that if he did not answer she’d probably enquire to Miss Leary or even worse to her father. So, he did his best to tell her what Yannick had told him a few months ago about his preferences for male lovers. He had strongly insisted that it was regarded as a mortal sin and punishable by death to make her understand that she had to keep this to herself. The other accusations were unfounded, but they had caused her father to leave France and take refuge here under a different name. Charley had been satisfied with Meredith’s explanations, it answered most of her questions.  
The four months that her father and Hadrian had lived together at Rosemarkie were the happiest times of her life. Then it all went wrong. Papa and Hadrian had argued in London, and he had sent them back to Cornwall without explanations while he had stayed behind. And there was an addition to their family, Nicky.   
Because she knew nothing, she first blamed Nicky for the argument until Meredith stopped that nonsense. The worst day of her life happened when Papa returned without Hadrian and told them that he had died. Then he shut himself away from her and from Meredith. Nicky started to cling on to him and Papa let him. Soon, he was going everywhere with Papa to Charley’s intense annoyance. Meredith was her rock. He listened to her complaints, explained, begged her not to blame the little one, reminding her of the state he was in when Papa had first brought him home, and because she was kind-hearted she did not take her resentment out on the little boy. Instead, she took it out of her father and his new lover, Ethan, that dreadful morning.

On his way back to the village Ethan had taken time to think about the events of the last few days and leading to this dreadful breakfast scene. Everything had happened so quickly; from his first arriving in the village and a first meeting on the beach, he had turned his life upside down for a total stranger after just one conversation which had left him hoping that it could lead to a serious relationship.   
He had doubts now, from what he had gathered from Charley’s words, there was another man in Ian’s life. Ethan did not like the idea of being an interloper in a couple’s love affair. He enjoyed Ian’s company very much, but he was not in love with him. It would cost him, but he could give him up, he was sure of it. He thought about his decision regarding staying at Porthdowns, at the lodge, and he came to the realization that the decision to stay had not been entirely due to Ian’s charms. He had been looking for another position, he did not want to live in London any longer. The reunion with his family had gone fairly well, he started to enjoy their company and there was plenty of work at Porthdowns for him. He had already been solicited by people from the village and from outside for consultations about their ailments. He would stay, he only hoped that Ian would still give him the lodge even if he broke off with him. Somehow, he felt that he would do so. Ethan was a good judge of character and he felt that Ian would put his people before his pride at being pushed away by Ethan. He made his way to the ‘Black dog’ to see if anyone had needed his services. He would stay around just in case he was required to go back up to the manor, Ian was bound to offer some explanation to him later.  
Charley had gone straight to her room and she waited. She was pleased with the effect her words had had on the company this morning. She’d had the time to see her father’s face blanched, a contrast with Ethan’s because the man had blushed. Of shame, she hoped. He probably did not know that her father’s love of men was not a secret for her. Charley read a lot, she was observant and intelligent, much older in her head than in her years, or so she reckoned. Loïk had put his hand on her father’s arm, Loïk always there to protect his admiral from harm. Miss Leary had been shocked, of course. Just like Meredith had been, shocked and sad at the same time. She had no doubt that he would come and vent his reproaches soon enough. After or before her father came? She would find out very soon.

She lay on her bed and waited. And waited. The minutes passed, and no sound was heard from her wing of the house. No footsteps in the corridor, nothing. It unnerved her, she had picked up a book, but could not concentrate, her eyes strayed to the clock frequently. She heard noises from outside, she looked down from her window, Meredith was taking Nick for a walk.   
Meredith was not coming to her; he was ignoring her.  
That was hard. They had talked about Hadrian often; he knew how much she missed him. He should have guessed that she needed him right now. Perhaps Papa was on his way up. She kept her eyes firmly on the clock as time continued its inexorable way forward and she was on her own.

Miss Leary had gone to the kitchen where she knew she would find Mrs. Harvey. The two women had sympathised and Miss Leary preferred to get away from the family right now. She was torn between Charley and her father; she had come to love them both and was at a loss of what to do. She felt that it was not a fight where she should intervene, those two cared deeply for each other, they were the ones who had to sort it out, she thought.  
Loïk had gone to Simona. She was awake and feeding their babies. He looked at the little ones in their mother’s arms thoughtfully. He had thought that Yannick’s way of bringing up his daughter was the best way possible and he was now confused. He had not seen signs of the impending drama coming at all. Yannick had probably gone too fast with introducing Ethan in his life and therefore in his children’s lives too. He did not tell Simona, he would, but not now, better to do so when it was sorted. Like Miss Leary, he thought that the sorting out had to be done by Yannick and Charley. He remained with his wife for a couple of hours before deciding to check on Yannick, see if he had come out of his rooms yet.  
Like Miss Leary, Loïk and Simona had been given a set of rooms in the east wing of the house, Loïk and Simona were on the first floor and Miss Leary was above them on the second. Because the east wing had been added to the original manor, they were connected by additional sets of stairs and corridors to the main house. Noises from the family quarters of the house centered around the square west tower were generally not heard from their wing. The children resided on the second floor of the main building with views of the gardens while their father’s rooms were on the second floor of the west tower, immediately accessible from the main staircase.  
Loïk made his way to Yannick’s door and knocked before he tried the handle: if Yannick was not in his room it would open. It did not. Loïk did not like it, he had given his friend two hours to think and had assumed that he would have gone out by now and found Charley. He knocked more loudly at the door but obtained no answer.  
A most unpleasant feeling of dread started to fill him. He remembered the bad old days when Yannick had drunk himself to oblivion the winter before last. He ran downstairs to find John.  
‘Do you have a key to the master’s drawing-room?’ He asked.  
‘I have, yes, but if the key is in the lock on the inside, it won’t do much good. Is there a problem?’ John looked worried, he had gathered from the subdued Miss Leary in the kitchen who should have been in the classroom, that something was amiss.   
‘I hope not, I’d really like to get in.’  
‘The servant’s staircase,’ suggested John, ‘Mr. Kermor does not usually lock this door from his drawing-room.’  
‘Come with me, John, I might need your help.’  
The two men made their way up the spiral staircase from the ground floor to the top and Yannick’s apartment door. Loïk was relieved when the door opened. The two men entered and Loïk immediately noticed the open door of the drink cabinet and that it was empty of bottles.  
With his feeling of dread only increasing, he made his way to the closed bedroom door, hoping that Yannick had not locked it. He had not. Yannick was lying on his bed, asleep or unconscious. He was very pale, and his breathing was irregular, he had vomited. There were 4 bottles on the floor. Loïk picked them up and to his despair saw that they were empty. Loïk tasted the rim of each to ascertain their content: one brandy, one whisky, one port, and one wine of some sort. Loïk felt his dread mount up to panic. He was not sure what to do, Yannick had never drunk himself unconscious before, but he knew that if the bottles had been full, then he was in great danger.   
John seemed to read his mind, ‘Dr. Treeve will know what to do,’ he said, ‘we can clean him up in the meantime and make him more comfortable.’  
Loïk collected himself and approved. He ran out to the landing and called out for a footman, Aidan started to make his way up the stairs, Loïk did not wait for him to reach the second floor, he shouted at him to get his uncle, Dr. Treeve, here immediately, also he wanted water brought up to the room, then he shut the door.

Loïk, in his anxious hurry, did not notice that standing in the corridor leading to the family’s bedrooms, one petrified young girl had started to shake uncontrollably.

Aidan ran all the way to ‘the Black dog’ hoping to find Ethan at home. He was. He told him how urgently he was needed at the manor, but not why he did not know himself. Ethan picked up his bag and followed his nephew.  
John and Loïk had cleaned up Yannick, they had washed his face and changed his shirt and sheet. They covered him up with blankets as he was shivering now. He still had not regained consciousness. John made up the fire which had nearly gone completely out, and the room was warming up nicely now.   
Mrs. Harvey was waiting anxiously by the front door; she was relieved to see Ethan and Aidan running up the path. She told him that Yannick was the one needing help. Ethan climbed the stairs in a hurry, he passed Charley on the landing, the child looked stunned and very pale, she too seemed to be needing medical help, he thought, but she would have to wait until he knew what the matter was with Ian.  
‘He drank,’ uttered Loïk, ‘I don’t know how much, there are 4 bottles on the floor.’  
‘What was in the bottles?’   
‘One brandy, one whisky, one port, one wine.’  
Ethan closed his eyes for a minute, that was a lot of alcohol to drink in one go, maybe enough to kill a man. He saw that they had done the right thing by keeping him warm and on his side.  
‘I’d like him propped up onto the pillows and woken up, he needs to drink plenty of water.’  
They helped Ethan put smelling salts under Yannick’s nose and obtained a reaction. Yannick’s eyes opened but they did not focus. Ethan brought a glass of water to his lips and managed to get him to drink. He poured another one and tried again. He explained to John and Loïk that the drunken man needed to drink as much water as possible and also pee to get rid of the alcohol as soon and as much as possible. They struggled, with the water then with the chamber pot, Yannick was not cooperative. They persevered and little by little Yannick got better, his breathing normalized, he stopped shivering and fighting them off. He was obviously wanting to sleep, Ethan hesitated in case he vomited again.   
‘I will remain here to keep a watch on him while he sleeps,’ he said.  
John got up, ‘I will have food brought up to you, sir, if you wish I can share the watch also,’ Ethan nodded, ‘I would welcome food, thank you; I will be all right to watch over him tonight, but maybe you could take over tomorrow morning if he has not recovered fully.’  
Loïk noticed that the sun was down, they had spent the whole afternoon with Yannick. He was suddenly very weary, ‘I should go and reassure Simona, will you get me if there’s any change at all, please?’ Ethan promised and Loïk left the rooms.

He found Charley huddled in Meredith’s arms, both sitting down on the top step of the landing opposite Yannick’s rooms. Meredith’s back was resting on the staircase wall, his eyes unseeing, his fingers twisting Charley’s long strands of hair. Loïk felt his heartbreak at the sight. He walked down the steps and told them gently that their father was probably going to be all right.  
‘Only probably?’ Asked Meredith.  
‘Unfortunately, we do not know how much alcohol was in the bottles, if they were full, then he has absorbed an awful lot,’ said Loïk, ‘he is sleeping more peacefully now, we’ll see how he feels in the morning.’  
Charley got up, ‘I’d like to sit up with him.’ Loïk hesitated, not certain that he could trust her not to say something unpleasant to Ethan who was also staying and had done his best to save Yannick. ‘I’ll behave,’ she added. Meredith got up too, ‘I’ll make sure she does,’ and they both made their way to their father’s bedroom.  
Ethan was settled in an armchair by the bed, he did not look surprised to see the children come in. Charley had had plenty of time to think, she had been unfair to Ethan, and she needed to apologize to him. She did so immediately, apologized for her words, and thanked him for his help. He thought her very grown up in her choice of words, he thanked her in turn, told her he was hopeful that the outcome would be good. Then they settled down as comfortably as they could for the next few hours of vigil.  
Aidan and a maid soon appeared carrying food and drink for Ethan as well as for the children who had not eaten since breakfast either. He thought that it would be preferable to eat in the drawing-room and so not disturb their father’s sleep. The three of them sat around a small table to eat keeping the bedroom door open to continue their watch on the sleeping man next door.

They did not speak. Ethan’s mind was reeling with questions. He had not expected Ian to react this way and endanger his life, but then if he stopped to think about it, he hardly knew the man. Charley’s words had probably made him feel guilty for betraying his lover. Ethan hated the thought that there was another man in Ian’s life, one his daughter obviously cared a lot about.   
Ethan found himself at a loss of what to say to Charley and Meredith. Charley had apologized to him, but he did not feel at ease with this strange child. She was only 12 years old but was far more astute than any other girl that age he had met, although if he was honest with himself, he had not met many.   
Ethan wanted to ask about Hadrian, but he did not dare. So, he concentrated on eating instead. He was rather hungry, and the children were too. Then Ethan thought about Nicky, ‘is Nicky all right?’ He asked. Meredith answered; he told Ethan that he had taken the boy for a very long walk, the little one was tired out after that. He had accepted that his Papa was not very well and that he could not see him at the moment. Meredith asked Ethan to be honest with them, Loïk had told him that their father was probably going to be all right, was it true or was he trying to reassure them?  
‘It’s true,’ said Ethan, ‘of course, it would be good to know how much he did drink, but the worse seems to be over, he regained consciousness, drank plenty of water to flush out the alcohol and his urine is now clear. He is sleeping peacefully. He will have a very bad headache in the morning, but otherwise, he should be all right, do you know if he drinks too much regularly? I am sorry to ask, but his future recovery might depend on his drinking habit.’  
Meredith answered, ‘he drinks wine at dinner, one or two glasses, and sometimes he has one brandy or whisky after the meal.’  
‘Not every day? And have you ever seen him drunk?’  
‘No,’ they both answered at the same time.  
‘And yet he has bottles in his rooms, he could be drinking here alone without you knowing.’  
‘No. He drank with Hadrian here, when they retired early after dinner. I never saw either of them drunk or ill the next day, so I don’t think they drank much at all.’  
Ethan hesitated, should he ask more about Hadrian or not?  
‘Didn’t he offer you a drink last night?’ Asked Charley suddenly.  
Ethan chilled, that was dangerous territory to get into with a twelve-year-old girl.   
‘No, no, we did not drink.’   
He left it at that, he did not want to lie to her, but he couldn’t tell her the truth. As it was, he was facing the couch they’d used last night, and he hoped that his eyes did not betray him. Charley watched him carefully before helping herself to more food, she did not say any more. This meal was fast becoming the most embarrassing one of his life.  
They finished eating in silence then returned to the bedroom. Charley had picked up a book from her father’s bookcase and Meredith did likewise. Ethan was tempted but decided that he would probably not be able to concentrate on anything other than the present situation.   
Charley settled back in the chaise longue and Meredith in an armchair. They started to read while Ethan busied himself with the fire, adding coal and logs to make sure the room was kept warm. John had provided them with extra blankets and had piled several on the bed after he had seen that Yannick was so cold. Ethan gave some to the children too, despite the roaring fire, the room would get gradually colder during the night. He also started to light candles near them. He settled in his own chair and found that the room now had a cozy look.

He had checked on Ian as soon as they had returned and found him still sleeping peacefully. He was warm, still on his side, his dark hair swept back from his forehead. His beauty moved Ethan in the same arresting way than he had this fateful morning on the beach when he had not been able to stray his eyes away from this man who had been blessed with a perfect body and perfect face. To find out now that Ethan was not the only one that this man was bestowing his favours to should not have surprised him, but it still hurt, nevertheless. True enough they had not spent the little time they’d been together in long conversations about each other’s life…  
They would have to talk, that was certain. He let his mind wander and soon realised that night had fallen, he drew the curtains and found the room even cozier than earlier, Charley had fallen asleep on the chaise longue, Meredith was still reading, but he looked tired and Ethan knew he would find the armchair uncomfortable to sleep on. Ethan thought that the girl would be better off in her father’s bed, after all, Ethan knew well enough that this bed could accommodate 2 persons without a problem.   
He pushed back the bedclothes on the other side of Ian and lifted the sleeping girl off her chair and laid her on the bed. She did not wake up. She would be warmer and more comfortable under the blankets and Meredith could use the chaise longue. Meredith had watched Ethan without speaking and he nodded gratefully when Ethan showed him the vacant chaise; he settled himself there, swathed in blankets as well. He was soon asleep as deeply as his sister was.  
Ethan continued his watch, drifting in and out of sleep himself all night.

Charley woke up and it only took her a few seconds to remember what had happened on the previous day. She could not recall getting into her father’s bed. The last time she had slept by his side had been in this very bed when they had arrived late and tired out at Rosemarkie manor for the first time. Meredith had also shared this bed that night, he did not do so now, but her father was here with her, she felt his warm presence next to her. She snuggled to him, he was sleeping on his side, presenting his back to her, she put her arm around his waist, feeling his reassuring warmth.   
Yannick also woke up a moment later; contrary to his daughter he did not recall much about the previous day at first. His mind was fuzzy, his head hurt dreadfully, he was aware of an arm around his waist, but couldn’t remember going to bed with anyone. He made the effort of turning around to see who was with him and was taken aback when he faced Charley.  
She kissed his cheek, holding him tighter, ‘you are all right,’ she whispered, ‘I was so afraid. I am so sorry, Papa, so sorry for what I said, please forgive me, I love you so, so, very much.’  
Yannick returned her hug while his mind slowly kicked into full awareness. Her words made sense as he remembered the events of the previous morning.   
‘It’s all right, my love, there are things I should have talked to you about and I will, I promise, only not now, my head hurts dreadfully,’ he whispered back.  
Charley nodded, she kissed him again and detached herself gently to get out of bed. Yannick noticed Meredith who was getting up slowly from the chaise longue. There was noise from the other side of his bed and Yannick got on his back and looked to see Ethan approaching the bed. He was dressed in his shirt and pants only and his hair was uncombed. Ethan did not speak, but he smiled and took his wrist to feel his pulse. Memories of the previous evening came back, Yannick remembered being sick and he remembered Ethan, Loïk, and John holding him, making him drink and pee and he felt ashamed for his complete loss of control over his body.  
Ethan nodded, pleased that all was normal. He presented a large glass of water to Yannick who drank it, ‘it should help with your headache; I’d prefer it if you could manage without poppy juice,’ said Ethan.   
‘Thanks, I’ll go without, I can put up with the pain, serves me right anyway.’  
Ethan smiled mockingly, ‘yes. Can you manage to eat something or are you nauseous?’  
‘I am a little hungry, actually.’  
Ethan nodded again. He left the room to call for John and reassure the household that Yannick was fine. Charley and Meredith gave their father another kiss and left the room also.  
John brought a tray with scrambled eggs and fresh bread. Ethan offered another large glass of water. Yannick pulled a face:   
‘You really want to make me pee all morning,’ he complained weakly.  
‘Yes, you need to get all that poison out of your system. How much did you drink, can you remember?’  
‘I finished the bottles. The port and the wine bottles were almost full. There were only a few mouthfuls left of brandy and whisky. I needed to escape.’ He said simply.  
‘You do know that you could have escaped forever, don’t you?’  
‘No, never meant to. I want to live.’   
Ethan believed him. He just added, ‘I am going to let you eat in peace. Stay in bed, your headache should get better. John is going to stay with you today, I will call again late in the afternoon.’  
Yannick just nodded. He knew that he also owed Ethan some explanations, but right now his head was too bad for anything.  
Yannick drifted on and off sleep most of the day, later in the afternoon he realised that his headache had finally departed. He got up and with John watching him like a hawk, he came downstairs to the drawing-room just as afternoon tea was being served. He was welcomed by a cry of joy from Nicky who rushed into his arms. He sat down to share their tea and apologized to all for his foolishness, he also thanked them for their care. He told Charley and Meredith that he wanted a private word with them afterward. 

He told them the story of the events that had unfolded in London, from the reason why he had made them leave Hadrian’s house until Hadrian’s death. He did not, however, told them the details of Hadrian’s attack on him, only that he had been violent in deeds and words, but he described his feelings when he had found Hadrian lifeless by his side that morning, and how he had only been able to talk about it recently, to Thomas a few days ago.   
They cried in each other’s arms, long overdue tears, and grief they needed to share. There were other words that needed to be said also, and he spoke, holding Charley’s hand in his, telling her that he understood how she felt, but that her pain did not give her the right to decide who he chose to love in the present or the future.   
He told her that he would always respect the choices she would make for her life and that he expected reciprocity. Fate had taken Hadrian away from him, nothing could ever change that, he would always hold a special place in his heart, but it did not mean that he had to spend the rest of his days on his own. He told them that he had only just met Ethan and did not know yet if their relationship would be lasting or not, but he hoped that they would not interfere and instead let things run their course.  
Charley told him that she had apologized to Ethan earlier. She felt better now that she knew she said. She had one question though:  
‘So those murderers got away with it, call this justice! Could you not do anything at all, Papa?’  
Yannick did not reveal to them what he had done. He’d had no right to act as he had and was now himself a murderer even if they had deserved it. He hesitated before he answered: ‘They did not get away with it,’ he spoke quietly, looking in her eyes.  
She hugged him, asked no more, she trusted her father to speak the truth. They left the room, satisfied, with a great weight off their shoulders. Yannick made his way to the kitchen, something had niggled him, he found John and Mrs. Harvey on their own which suited his purpose perfectly.  
‘Tell me, you often speak with the children, didn’t they ask you what had happened in London since you’ve been here?’  
Mrs. Harvey answered: ‘Yes they wanted to know why you had made them leave so fast, and we told them the truth: that you and his lordship had argued. We said nothing of the murder attempts. As for his lordship’s death, we told them that he died in his sleep after that you and his lordship had reconciled your differences.’  
Mrs. Harvey and John exchanged a look and John spoke: ‘There was a scandal in London after you departed, sir, Mr. Tanner was murdered right in front of his club. Did you know?’  
‘I heard, yes; from Robert Fellowes. He found out when he returned to London after spending a week in Bath.’  
‘A constable came to the house, he was sent by the magistrate investigating the murder after he’d found out that Robert Fellowes had tried to have Mr. Tanner convicted for the attempts on his lordship’s life. He asked questions but we knew nothing of his lordship’s problems with Mr. Tanner, nor did we know who his friends were; we told him he had only just returned to London and had not entertained anyone. I don’t think that the culprit was caught, sir, unless Robert Fellowes told you otherwise.’  
‘He did not, no, and he told me the other three men he’d arrested at the time also met a violent end,’ he marked a pause, smiling, ‘apparently.’   
‘Good. His lordship was a good man and he did not deserve to die so young. I hope that whoever despatched justice is never caught,’ concluded Mrs. Harvey smiling back at him.  
Yannick grinned and made his way to his study. He was not unduly worried to find out that an investigation had been made, he had expected it; even if the butler had told the constable that he and his family had stayed at Hadrian’s house, they had left first the house and then London days before Hadrian’s death and the subsequent murder. Yannick had covered his steps carefully, his guilt could never be proven.

He checked his mail, there was one letter from Louis who had returned to Oxford for his last year. Yannick had invited Louis and Anne-Laure and family to come and spend Christmas at Rosemarkie. It would be their first family Christmas and the children were looking forward to spending this holiday time with their cousins.   
Nothing else required his immediate attention. He had missed two meetings with his steward, he hoped that Jonathan would have news about the steam engine soon. He needed something to occupy his mind to stop him thinking about Julia’s letter and its possible impact on Charley. It could not have come at a worse moment, he thought. He had told Charley this very morning that he would respect her choices in life, but what if she decided that she wished to go and live with her mother? After all, she had often mentioned her wish to go to Italy for a grand tour. He had to be patient, wait for news from Richard and Amber.  
A footman came and disturbed him; Dr. Treeve had arrived.  
He found Ethan waiting for him in the drawing-room, talking to Nicky who was playing there under his maid’s supervision. He stood up and bowed when Yannick entered and he gave him a smile.   
‘I see you are looking well, totally recovered I would say.’  
Yannick returned his greeting and his smile, ‘yes, I feel fine, I’ve slept most of the day, I’ve eaten well, and not drank a drop of alcohol, just as the doctor ordered. Are you free for dinner tonight?’  
‘I am glad you are well, it’s just what I was wanting to hear. I thank you for your invitation, but I must decline. I am on my way to Highfield farm; I had a note from one of their farmhands that the children were unwell. I expect to return quite late, it’s a fair way there.’  
‘Yes, it is. How are you getting there?’  
‘I am walking, and I hope to find a mount to buy while I am at the farm, I believe they trade horses.’  
‘They do, yes, I bought mine from them. They are decent folks; I hope their children’s ailment is mild.’  
Ethan bowed and made his way out of the room. Their conversation would have to wait. Yannick had been tempted to suggest to Ethan to stop on his way back, even if late, but thought otherwise on reflection. Furthermore, they were not alone, Nicky’s nursery maid was present. Another day or two of separation might be good, to give each of them a pause for thought.


	6. The Trewins investigate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lord and Lady Trewin visit their friends at Westmoor Abbey in the hope of finding more about Julia's motives.

Richard and Amber took lodgings at the inn of the village nearest Westmoor Abbey. The village was situated in the countryside of North Devon and they liked the place immediately. Richard did mention that he was a friend of Lord Asquith, visiting the area and hoping that his friend was at home. This was confirmed by the landlord, his lordship was at home with her ladyship, but his sons were both away at the moment.   
Richard was pleased to hear it. He did not fancy finding himself in another conversation with Ashley so soon after the last unpleasant one. They rested for the day, then made their way to the Abbey the next morning.  
The abbey was a large square building, rather austere and standing on its own in the middle of a large lawn. It was not the first time that Richard and Amber had visited. Lord Asquith’s wife was not much younger than her husband, they were both in their early sixties, she was a vivacious and bright woman who, suspected Amber, must find her daughter-in-law tiresome in the least. Come to think of it, she probably also found her son tiresome. Amber sometimes consoled herself with the fact that she never had children by thinking that some mothers had quite a heavy burden to carry all their lives.   
They were made welcome by their friends who were obviously really happy to see them and not just been polite. Richard explained that their son’s visit to Falmouth had reminded them of how long it had been since they’d met, and they had decided to pay them a visit before winter set in and travel became more difficult.

The two retired admirals engaged in conversation about the navy and the old days while the ladies exchanged on subjects like fashion and also on books, both ladies commiserating upon the recent death of their favourite author, a lady whose name had never been revealed to her faithful readers. They chatted happily through their lunch, then lady Asquith proposed a walk in the park to Amber who was pleased to get out in the fresh air.   
Lady Asquith confided to Amber that she had found the last weeks tiring after her son, newly-wed wife and their friends overstayed their welcome at Westmoor.  
‘Do you not enjoy company, my dear?’ asked Amber  
‘I enjoy yours,’ answered lady Asquith, ‘and I used to enjoy Julia’s company before she married her pompous prince. I can’t understand why she did such a thing!’  
‘Maybe she fell in love,’ answered Amber, ‘although I must admit that I found the man most tiresome myself. Where did she meet him?’   
‘In London, 5 years ago, at some reception. I know she was getting quite concerned with the passing of time and the fact that she was still unmarried. She has always worried that Sorano would pass on to a cousin of hers who she dislikes after her death. She wanted to marry an Italian, too, and well there were not a lot of choices in London during the war. Most nobles as you know remained in Italy and chose to ally themselves to the French. Unfortunately, after 5 years of marriage, she did not produce an heir and now she is stuck with an insufferable husband for nothing.’  
‘Sometimes a woman can bear a child at the change of life, I heard; Julia is not yet 40 I believe.’  
‘She is 37. But she’s had several miscarriages and she nearly died the last time. She told me that there was no hope at all now. It has changed her.’  
‘I had met her before they came to visit us in Falmouth, a few years ago, before her marriage. I was surprised to find her in England because I remember that she couldn’t wait to return to Sorano. I assumed she would be there now.’  
‘Yes, well, she did return immediately after the war ended. She came back 5 months ago, went straight to London at first, and now they are here for a visit. Between you and me, my dear, she came back at her husband’s insistence. The man disliked Sorano. He preferred London. Apparently, she even had difficulties getting him here for a visit. She had to agree to a stay in Bath for him to accept coming to Devon. And then against all odds, he befriended Ashley.’  
‘I found her very reserved, different from lady Evelyn,’ said Amber cautiously, ‘are they good friends?’  
Lady Asquith let out a deep sight, ‘I don’t think so. Julia is too intelligent to choose Evelyn as a friend. Honestly, I still can’t get to terms with Ashley marrying her. I know she adores him, is pretty and from an excellent family, but honestly, of all the girls he could have chosen, why pick the silliest? Worse still he actually likes the prince! Ashley and the prince decided on this trip to Cornwall and then to Bath, Julia and Evelyn just followed. I did hear an argument between the prince and Julia, she wanted to stay here, but he wouldn’t let her because Evelyn needed a companion.’  
‘I see, that did not bode well at the start of a trip together. I understand better why Julia was so quiet now. I am sorry you dislike your daughter-in-law; I hope you have more joy with Nicholas’s wife,’ commiserated Amber.  
‘Oh yes, definitely. Sarah is a lovely, intelligent girl, well suited for Nicholas. Thank god, Nicholas is our eldest son and will inherit his father’s title and Westmoor. If it had been Ashley, it would have made his father so ill at the thought of the estate’s future that I think it could have precipitated an early death.’   
‘Surely not. Ashley cannot be that bad.’  
‘Unfortunately, he is. If only he had picked up a girl with common sense instead of one who encourages his worse traits!’

Amber had linked her arm through her friend’s. She was saddened to see so much unhappiness. Ashley had never been as bright as his elder brother, but in the past, he had not been as pretentious as he had been in Falmouth. Or maybe Amber had failed to notice it in the past. What she discovered about Julia worried her though. It gave her a good reason for wanting to get her daughter back. She wondered if the Principe knew of his wife's daughter’s existence. She was not sure how to bring the subject up without betraying the fact that she knew the story from Yannick.  
The two ladies returned to the drawing-room to join their husbands. They entered as the conversation had continued to centre on naval matters, Richard was talking about Ashley’s remarks about Captain Thomas Adams. He was telling Lord Asquith that he had found Ashley unfair.   
‘I am in excellent terms with Captain Adams, he does a remarkable job in Falmouth, I also knew the late Lord Vernon who was part of the squadron your son belittled, and his remarks did upset me, I must admit.’  
Lord Asquith nodded, ‘Ashley was repeating what he’s heard in London. The admiralty has taken the fact that they never caught Mersac very hard. I am sure you have talked at length with Captain Adams and Lord Vernon and that you have satisfied yourself that they could not have prevented Mersac’s escape, but really you must admit that their detractors have a point, how could they not stop him sail away?’  
‘Mersac had trained his men to climb in the masts in the dead of night and complete silence for several days. He had also studied the tides and paid fishermen for information about wind patterns in the bay and signs in the sky, like cloud movements and colours before he chose the night to run. His men started to climb up in the masts as soon as night fell and readied themselves to unfurl as soon as the tide turned, and the winds were favourable. He also had boats with rowers inside ready to be launched to help Danae move as soon as the alarm would be raised. They were fast and efficient. Danae was already well on her way out when a vigil sounded the alarm. By the time the nearest ship, Lord Vernon’s frigate, was able to move, Danae was out of port, with her boats up and full sails ahead as she caught the winds. The squadron’s ships did their best to catch up, but with the devil’s luck, they were becalmed and could only watch their prey disappear on the horizon.’  
Lord Asquith had listened carefully and now he said, puzzled, ‘how can you know all this; the last part, I had heard at the admiralty because it was in the official report, but the rest? I have never heard that Mersac publicly explained how he had escaped.’  
‘I don’t know if he did or not,’ Richard hesitated and cleared his throat before he added, ‘I did not think to ask him when we spoke.’  
Lord Asquith opened his mouth and frowned, ‘surely you are jesting?’  
‘No. I did discuss this with him, but I am not at liberty of telling you how and where.’  
Lady Asquith shook her head. ‘But what about the man’s dreadful reputation? Surely you did not introduce him to your wife?’  
Amber laughed, ‘Oh, he didn’t have a choice in the matter, my dear, and I found Mersac to be a decent man, much vilified by awful lies in newspapers.’  
‘Well, I never!’ Lord Asquith was looking much put out and did not know how to respond. He was at the same time shocked and a little envious of his friend.  
‘I am sorry to insist, my dear, you speak of lies, but Lady Alconbury never denied the rape story. If it was untrue, she would have let it be known at least in Society,’ commented Lady Asquith, ‘she always refused to talk about the incident because it was far too painful a memory to her.’  
Amber smiled sadly, ‘after the story was told, presumably by officers on their return from India, Lord Alconbury had been furious that it was made public. He confirmed it, could do no less after he had himself interrogated everyone present at the time about it, and his wife could not go against their words without compromising her virtue.’  
Lord Asquith frowned, ‘are you suggesting that her virtue was compromised? Is that what Mersac said to you?’  
Lady Asquith shrugged her shoulders, ‘how can you believe anything that this scoundrel said to you? Why would she admit to rape, the articles said that one of the officers saw Mersac leaving her room bleeding; she could have said that she stopped him before he assaulted her; it would have made her heroin without the stain of having been raped.’ Her husband nodded approvingly, it made sense.  
Amber nodded, ‘you are right of course;’ she hesitated, it was not her secret to tell, but then, Ian had entrusted them to find out about Julia and must have realised that questions would be asked about the newspapers rumours, ‘but how else could she explain to her husband that she was with child?’  
A disquieting silence filled the room. Lady Asquith recovered first.  
‘You are sure there was a child?’  
‘Quite sure; Sir Leroy, Lady Alconbury’s brother looked after matters for her upon her return in England, the child was taken to a slum in London to be reared. Lucky for him, Mersac found out and took him away. If you do not believe me, next time you meet Sir Leroy, ask him how his little nephew is bearing up at “the sanctuary”.’  
Lady Asquith shivered, ‘surely not, he would not have left a child of his sister’s to be reared in that dreadful place.’  
Richard answered this time: ‘I assure you, he did, and most likely with Lord Alconbury’s blessings. I recommended the man who investigated on behalf of Mersac; he visited Sir Leroy and obtained from him the address where the child was found.’  
Lady Asquith looked totally aghast, before recovering, ‘but don’t you see, this does prove that he raped her. He got her with child and her brother helped her out to get this reminder of her ordeal out of her life. The poor lamb would have had to put up with even more gossips from society if the existence of the child is known. And where is this child now?’  
‘Safely brought up by his father somewhere. I understand your reasoning, my dear, I will not try to convince you that this is not what happened, I know the man well and I believe him when he says that he had a love affair with the lady and did not force her to share his bed. We have to agree to disagree on this matter. I trust you will keep this child’s existence to yourselves for the reason you invoked earlier, no need to upset the Lady further with society gossiping,’ answered Richard.

He was thinking that the conversation had taken a turn he had not wanted. But the tale of how the boy had been discarded by his mother and uncle as Yannick had told him had infuriated him. He would have dearly loved to have had a child himself and to see that some people who had been so lucky could hurt their own flesh and blood made him angrier than he could bear. Yannick’s love and care for his children endeared him to the man more and more and he was finding it increasingly difficult to put up with the stories blackening his friend’s name.   
Amber’s feelings were close to her husband’s although she did feel some sympathy for Julia contrarily to what she had felt for Alexis. She could understand that Julia could be wanting to claim back her only child as she could not have another, and Julia had not abandoned her child in a slum either but had left her in her opulent Italian villa with a wet nurse and servants to care for her. Only Julia had never seen father and daughter together. If she had, Amber was hoping, she would not be so cruel as to try to separate them. She had found Yannick to be in much better spirits when he had called that night in Falmouth, that was until he had seen Julia. He had looked as if he was getting over Hadrian’s death with maybe someone else in his life. Not a woman, she hoped, Yannick had not shown much discernment with the only two women he had fallen in love with, she thought sadly.  
Lord and Lady Asquith did not press them for further information. They had clearly been shaken by what they had learnt and as it was getting late, Richard and Amber excused themselves to their friends. They wished to return to the inn.   
‘Please call again tomorrow,’ said Lord Asquith, ‘Nicholas and Sarah are returning from Bath with their little ones tonight and I wish to introduce Sarah and the children to you. We shall not mention today’s conversation anymore.’  
The accepted gracefully to return for tea on the next day and left Westmoor Abbey. On their way, Amber said, ‘returning from Bath,’ she mused, ‘we could learn a little more about Julia’s intentions tomorrow if they met there, Nicholas and she were close friends, she could have talked to him, what do you think, my dear?’  
‘Maybe, but if she mentioned meeting Yannick at our place, that could put the cat among the pigeons!’   
Amber grinned, ‘I doubt Yannick will mind if it does, as long as it advances his cause. After all, with Julia knowing where he is now, he must be aware that it’s only a matter of time before it might become common knowledge.’  
Richard sighed, ‘with all the trouble that it will bring to him.’

Richard and Amber had known Nicholas and Ashley since they were very young. Ashley and Evelyn had married recently in London where Evelyn’s parents spent most of the year. Nicholas and Sarah’s marriage had also been a grand affair, with Nicholas being Lord Asquith heir; it had taken place in Kent where Sarah’s parents had their country seat. Richard and Amber had not been able to come to Nicholas’s marriage due to Richard’s ill health at the time. The newly-weds had moved to their own house, also in Kent soon after the marriage and so Nicholas and Amber never had a chance to meet Sarah. She had given Nicholas a son within a year of the union and a daughter the following year. Amber was looking forward to seeing the infants who were now aged 4 and 3 respectively.  
Lord and Lady Asquith welcomed them to their home once more next afternoon. Nicholas introduced Sarah to them, and he also proudly showed them his children. It was immediately apparent that Nicholas was a doting father. Amber took to Sarah just as quickly as she had disliked Evelyn.   
Richard politely asked if they had been in Bath at the same time as Ashley and Evelyn. Nicholas said yes, they had, but only for one day, on the eve of their own departure for Westmoor Abbey. The conversation was interrupted when Julia walked into the room. She did not look surprised to see Richard and Amber, she had obviously been briefed about their visit. Richard felt uncomfortable, he wondered if she guessed why they were here so soon after her own visit in Falmouth.  
Julia gave them a smile and after they inquired politely after her husband, she explained that he had chosen to remain in Bath. Lady Evelyn had found friends there so her presence as a companion was no longer required, she said with a smile, and after a slight pause, she told them that her husband probably preferred her not to be with him as it left him freer in his pursuit of card games and whores.  
‘My dear Julia!’ Exclaimed Lady Asquith horrified at Julia’s words.  
Julia smiled and patted her friend’s arm gently, ‘well, it’s true. This is the reason why he would not remain in Sorano. No one to play cards with and no women good enough for him. Here he is an Italian Prince and can have who he wants, in Italy, he is just another noble, one without land or fortune and living off his wife’s money. You can see his point of view I am sure.’  
‘Oh, my dear, I am so sorry,’ said Lady Asquith, ‘I thought it was a love match.’  
‘I thought it was, even if I was not passionately in love with him. I was blind though. I did not see him for what he was, fool that I am. I am no good at seeing what’s good for me in love. Once upon a time a very handsome and kind man gave me his love and I betrayed him,’ she looked straight into Amber’s eyes, ‘and he is still very handsome is he not, the years have been kind to him.’  
Amber smiled and nodded. Richard cleared his throat. Lord and Lady Asquith looked at each other, visibly taken aback by Julia’s words and the unspoken understanding between her, Amber and Richard. Nicholas and Sarah looked on also puzzled, Julia continued to speak,  
‘how much do you know?’ She asked, looking at Richard and Amber.  
‘Past and present? A great deal. He has been our friend for 3 years now and he has always been honest with us,’ Amber hesitated, then, ‘he has shown us your letter.’  
Julia sighed, ‘a very silly letter. Totally unfair of course. I don’t know what came over me. I was so upset that night; you have no idea. When I returned to Sorano after the war, I expected to find Victoria there. I was convinced that he had left her behind, what, with the letter I wrote to him I thought he must have despised her as much as he despised me. Also, what use a baby to a sailor, I ask you. Only Victoria was not at Sorano. He had taken her and her wet nurse away with him. I was furious but what could I do. He had disappeared. Then, two years later, after I experienced yet another miscarriage, I was told that I would never become a mother. My husband had no sympathy for me, and he made it clear that he did not want to spend his life in an Italian ‘back of beyond’ as he called my estate. So, when I got better, I followed him back to England. My mood was somber most of the time, I missed Sorano, but at least here, I was surrounded by friendly faces.’ She paused, and her eyes filled with tears. ‘When I saw him in your drawing room in Falmouth, I nearly passed out.’ She laughed nervously. ‘What an evening! How did you manage to stay civil with Augustus, Ashley, and Evelyn after they insulted your friends? Anyway, I did not sleep that night, I was feverish, out of my mind when I wrote this letter. Please tell me, is my daughter alive, and have you met her?’

There were gasps from her audience. She had never told this part of her past history to her friends judging by the stunned looks on their faces.  
Richard chose to let Amber talk. She was much better than him in handling this kind of tricky situation diplomatically.   
‘Yes, we have met Charley. Everyone calls her Charley, short for Charlotte, her given name. She is a bright and beautiful girl; she has inherited your hair colour and her father’s eyes. She is more grown-up than her 12 years, but then she’s had a most unusual life, brought up on a ship of war as she was.’  
This time it was Julia who gasped and exclaimed, ‘what do you mean brought up on a ship of war, was she not reared in France?’  
‘No, he didn’t want to part with her. He took her and her Italian wet nurse with him on his cruise. He brought her up on board his ship, educated her himself; she speaks English and Italian fluently as well as French. Since living in England, she has been learning Greek and Latin also. She has 2 brothers. Meredith, who was rescued and adopted by her father in India, is 3 years older than her. Nicholas is nearly 4. They are a close-knit family.’  
‘And he is now married to Nicholas’s mother, I assume. What is she like?’  
‘He is not married. He lives alone, as far as we know.’  
Julia shook her head; she said a little desperately. ‘Legally, of course, I know I have no chance of getting her back if he refuses, but I hoped that because she had been brought up far away from her father also, I might have a chance of redeeming myself in her eyes, that I could have made her understand my decision at the time. But now, I see that I was wrong. She must be very close to her father and after what he must have told her about me, she must be full of hatred for me and I will not be able to change her view…’  
‘But,’ said Amber gently, ‘if that was your purpose, why write such an aggressive letter to him, altering the facts as well? I mean he knows what happened!’ She decided to tell her the truth about their presence in Westmoor. ‘You see, he wondered if you had not lost your mind. This is the primary reason for our visit here now. He did not know how to respond before he spoke to Charley,’ Amber took a big intake of air before she continued, feeling sorry for this woman who had made a bad choice in her life and should not, in her opinion, pay for it forever, ‘you are misjudging him, Julia, Charley was not brought up to hate you. My advice to you is, write another letter, address it to her this time, explain how you feel, explain your choices; I will gladly send this on. Then see what happens.’  
Amber saw a spark of hope in the distressed woman’s eyes. Julia looked at Richard and found him smiling, obviously agreeing with his wife. She looked at Lady and Lord Asquith,   
‘All this must come as a shock to you. I am sorry, but I could not speak of it when I returned to England. I wanted to forget that this marriage and the birth of this child ever happened. I was deeply ashamed by what I had done, accepting to marry under false pretense as a way of gaining freedom. I had felt corned, endangered, the Peace of Amiens had ended abruptly, I was stranded in France, under close monitoring by the French secret police because I let my views about Bonaparte be known. Every one of my moves was under scrutiny. Then at a reception, I met a handsome naval captain who fell in love with me, and callously, I thought that he would soon return to sea and leave me free to escape. My plan worked well, my unsuspecting husband let me return to Sorano and from there I escaped back to England, abandoning the two-weeks-old baby girl I had brought to the world. Once safely here, I contacted the catholic bishop, William Sharrock, and asked him to plead my case to the pope to have the marriage dissolved on the grounds that it had been forced upon me. Dissolution was granted and therefore I was able to marry Augustus 5 years ago. I had to tell Augustus before we returned to Sorano because I expected to find my child waiting for me there. He took it very badly and it did not help an already shaky marriage.’  
She stopped speaking, she could see on the faces of her dearest friends, Lady and Lord Asquith, Nicholas and Sarah, how much she had shocked and disappointed them. Nicholas addressed Amber:  
‘Are you sure that your friend will let his daughter hear from her mother? I mean, sorry Julia, if I sound harsh but I don’t think I would, that’s how I feel.’  
Richard intervened, ‘he will; he is, let’s say, full of surprises.’   
He said those last words, looking directly at Lord Asquith. He saw his friend pale then hold his breath as understanding washed over him as he remembered their conversation on the previous day.  
Richard just smiled. He wondered if Lady Asquith had also understood who Julia’s previous husband was. Julia created a diversion, saying that she would write, and could they deliver a letter to her daughter. They agreed, they told her that they meant to depart from the inn the next day in the afternoon if she could let them have it by noon.   
Would Julia tell her dearest friends who her daughter’s father was? They chose to take their leave now, promising to come again and inviting them back to their own home. It was wiser to let Julia inform or not her friends without them being here to witness their reaction.  
A messenger brought a letter addressed to Charley, c/o her father, next day at 9 o’clock.


	7. Mother Dear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charley meets her mother, Ethan experiences jealousy.

On the day after Yannick had met Ethan on his way to Highfield Farm, he received news that the steam engine had arrived at the mine. He immediately called the children and arranged for a trip to see the engine being put into operation. He made it a day out for everyone from Rosemarkie manor, they would all go, from the lowest servant right down to Mrs. Harvey. The cook and her helper would come laden with a picnic for everyone. Loïk and Simona chose to stay behind, they were worried that it was too early yet to take the twins out.   
Loïk had followed Ethan’s advice and employed the wet nurse he had recommended and she fed the babies at night. She was a young woman from the village, wife of a fisherman, who had a 2 years old girl and who welcomed the income it brought. Her own child slept on at the manor while her mother fed the babies at night and they returned to the village in the morning.

It was a great day out; Meredith was spending a lot of time with Nicky these days. He had perched the child on his shoulders so that he could have a better look at the engine and Nick was laughing with delight. Yannick was seeing that he had made a mistake by keeping the child with him so much in the past year. Nicky needed to establish a closer relationship with Charley and Meredith. He had been wrong to stifle the child the way he had. He had worked out why he had done it, he had used the child as a remedy against his own heartache and loneliness and because he knew that Nicky needed him in a way that Charley and Meredith did not any longer. They were growing up fast, Meredith could choose to go to university soon and leave the manor for months at a time, Charley spent more time with her books and with Miss Leary than she did with him these days when she was not riding in the meadows. His journey alone to Falmouth and his subsequent health incident had put a little distance between Nicky and him and had brought the child closer to his siblings. Yannick was determined to encourage this.   
They came back very late; night had fallen by the time they reached the manor. The cook had prepared a hearty soup at the same time as the picnic the previous day and she quickly got it on the stove to warm up and feed every ravenous mouth at the manor. Yannick and the children sat down with everyone around the huge kitchen table sharing the soup with his servants, dipping large pieces of buttered bread in it. They completed their meal with cheese and apple pie with clotted cream and retired to their beds happy with a full stomach.  
When Yannick talked to Jonathan, as usual, the next day, he learnt that the repairs at the lodge were completed. The men had not lost any time and the damage had not been as extensive as they had thought. Once they had cleared up the floorboards upstairs from wild animals’ dejections, branches, and leaves, they’d found that most boards were sound, not as many needed to be replaced as they had feared. The stove had been cleaned out, the chimneys swept, furniture was being made, linen needed to be bought and kitchen utensils also, but as Ethan was apparently in a hurry to move in this very day, he would have to do with fewer things.   
Yannick decided to go to the lodge this morning with Jonathan and see for himself. He said that the manor could probably provide a lot of what Ethan was missing. He detected a hesitation from Jonathan at these words, Jonathan admitted that Ethan had told him that Yannick had already done a great deal with providing the lodge and he did not want to ask for more. Yannick understood, but he determined to make Ethan change his mind anyway.  
The lodge did look good. After the workers had gone, Daisy and Rosen had cleaned the place for Ethan. The wooden floor had been waxed and smelt beautifully, the windows were clean, a table had been put in the parlour and a vase with wildflowers was set upon it. Jonathan excused himself, he had matters to attend to, and he left Yannick alone to continue his visit. Yannick was making his way up the stairs when one of the upstairs doors opened and Ethan walked out on the landing. Yannick greeted him happily:

‘Haven’t they made an excellent job downstairs,’ he said, ‘had you been inside before?’  
‘No, I did not, I thought the floorboards looked unsafe,’ he replied as Yannick walked up the stairs to reach the landing.   
The smell of wax was overpowering on this floor, the first room was a good size, with a slanted ceiling as it was under the roof, it was empty of furniture, the window was wide open, he approached and admired the view of the village and the fishing port below. The second room was the same size as the first, but it was furnished with a double bed and a wardrobe set against the tallest wall of the room. The window was also open, and Yannick went to see the view from there although he had already worked out from the orientation of the lodge that his manor would be in view from here. He was right, he saw the path going up and round to the manor’s front entrance, skirting the terrace. There was a good view of the tower where his bedroom was and even of the large bay window of his room. He did not think that the view from this room was as good as the other one with its spectacular sight of the sea and the cliffs to the west. There would be a great sunset to admire from it too, but he did not say anything for the moment, far too aware that he was of Ethan’s presence behind him. He knew he had to talk to Ethan, but his mouth was dry, Ethan pre-empted him:  
‘I want to thank you for this place,’ he said, ‘and I hope that you will not change your mind about letting me have it when I tell you that I think we should keep our distances from now. I don’t want to be either an interloper or a distraction while your lover is away.’  
Yannick turned around to face him.  
‘Is that what you think you are to me?’  
‘It’s what it looks like; we have only just met so it is a little early to speak of love between us.’  
‘I agree, it’s too early to mention love, but the physical attraction is undeniable, why, even as you speak now of ending our relationship, I can see that you want me on your bed.’  
Ethan swallowed and blushed, ‘I can’t deny it, of course, I can’t, but I can resist; I will not play second fiddle, besides, it’s dishonest, against what I believe.’  
Yannick nodded gravely, then he smiled. ‘What if I told you that my lover will not come back?’  
‘He would be a fool not to,’ sighed Ethan, ‘I think I would always be worried that he could come back and claim you.’  
Yannick smiled gently, he put his hands flat upon Ethan’s shoulders and said gravely, ‘only Jesus ever came back from where Hadrian has gone to, Ethan. Well, that’s if you believe it anyway. There has been no one in my life apart from you since he passed away 14 months ago.’  
Ethan looked at him, stunned. ‘Because Charley spoke of you betraying him, I never imagined for one minute…,’  
‘Charley loved Hadrian and after I told her that he had died in London I failed to explain what had happened. I could not bring myself to talk about it, the pain was far too overwhelming. So, I let time pass and heal my heart without helping her out with her own pain as I should have done. Then the other morning, she guessed that you had replaced Hadrian in my bed and anger and resentment against me blew up. I have talked to her and to Meredith, they now know the full story,’ he smiled sheepishly, ‘we cried a lot in each other’s arms, and most importantly we spoke a lot and honestly. Charley is all right now. Just be yourself, Ethan, and she will accept you,’ he paused before adding, ‘if you want to be accepted, that is.’   
‘I was astonished to hear Charley’s words, to hear her talk about your relationship with another man with other people listening in. I mean, a girl her age should know nothing about this kind of thing.’  
‘No, you are right she should have been sheltered from this. If she had not been brought up the way she was in a very unconventional male environment, she would not have heard that men like me ever existed. I never mentioned my proclivities toward men to her. Problem is that she is very bright and when she hears something or a word, she does not understand she won’t give in until she gets answers. She reads a lot and she probably pestered Meredith too to understand.’   
Ethan exclaimed before Yannick had finished: ‘Meredith?!’ Yannick removed his hands from Ethan’s shoulders as Ethan recoiled back in shock.  
‘Yes, I told Meredith about my past lovers during a very difficult conversation we had concerning rumours that he had heard regarding me. I did not ask him if Charley also knew about the rumours, I assumed that she did not because she was only 10 at the time. I think she heard the servants talk after Hadrian moved in to live with me at Rosemarkie and talked to Meredith at that time.’  
Looking at the horrified expression on Ethan’s face, he wondered if being honest with this man had not been a mistake. He had probably said far too much too soon.   
‘I understand that you find this open talk difficult to accept. I hope you can. But I’ll understand if it upsets you and that you wish to distance yourself from us. I will hold no grudge against you.’  
‘Thank you for your honesty, I need to think about all this though, it’s a lot to take on.’  
Yannick nodded, ‘as I said, I understand. I better leave you to settle here now, no doubt we’ll meet again.’

He nearly ran down the stairs of the lodge and out, he had managed to keep his emotions at bay when hearing Ethan’s words, but he knew he had to get out fast and control himself. He had frightened Ethan away. He thought ruefully that if he had heard the rest of his life story or asked what he meant by ‘unconventional male environment’ he would probably have left Porthdowns for good.   
He walked back up to the manor, he had misjudged Ethan, maybe because he had grown too complaisant about what other people could understand about his situation. Richard and Amber, Miss Leary, Thomas even, and Louis the list of all those who had accepted his way of life and of bringing up his children had lengthened over the months and he had taken it for granted that once he explained things to Ethan, he would bed him again. Although thinking about it, he was not sure that his sister and Alex would approve of his choice of partners, they had not known about Hadrian and they still had not questioned him about the pamphlet’s allegations. This time though he had got it wrong. He chastised himself as he entered the house. He went to the drawing-room first to spend some time playing with Nicky who was always happy to see him and then he went to his study, plenty to do, and he knew working hard helped to keep his mind off his personal problems.

The next two days passed in very much the same way. He did not leave the manor purposely to avoid a fortuitous meeting with Ethan at the village. On the third day, he heard that his candidate for the vicarage had been accepted and he went to see the young man, Simon Martin, at the vicarage to give him the good news. He was delighted of course; he could now pick up a date for his marriage to Rosen. Yannick congratulated him then continued his walk. The tide was low, so he decided to walk along the shore and come up with the steps he had shown Ethan. It was a long way around to get home, but he needed the fresh air and the exercise after spending two days in his study catching up on studying matters that Jonathan had put to him a while ago. Jonathan had not yet followed up on Yannick’s suggestion that a secretary was needed to help out, Yannick made a note in his head of following it up with him.  
It was colder by the shore than it was in the village and he walked briskly, enjoying the wind blowing from the sea which ruffled his hair and made his walk harder against it. At least it was dry with a little sun, he now wished that he had taken Nicky with him, the boy loved running in the sand. They could have looked for crabs and other shellfish in the water ponds around the rocks too.

He could not help thinking about Ethan. He had tried to persuade himself that the attraction was purely physical, but he was not so sure now. He had added Ethan’s stand on honesty and his obvious dislike of cheating to the list of the other qualities he found endearing in the other man. He missed him, and not just the physicality of the relationship. He needed to find a way of getting Ethan to come to the manor and engage him in conversation into subjects he knew would catch his attention. The vicar’s nomination was a good reason for celebration. He would give a party at the manor in honour of Simon, Ethan could not refuse to attend. Pleased with himself he plodded on against the wind and soon reached the steps leading to his home.  
He walked in by the garden doors and was met by a footman who announced that Lord and Lady Trewin were waiting for him in the drawing-room. His light mood was immediately replaced by a sinking feeling at the pit of his stomach. They were bringing news of Julia and his anxiety came back.

He walked in and greeted his friends. They were drinking tea with Meredith and Charley playing hosts to them. Amber greeted him with a big smile which he found reassuring and she answered his questions about how nice their trip had been.   
They mentioned meeting Nicholas, Sarah, and the children who were so much nicer than Ashley and Evelyn. Yannick suggested that they spent the night at Rosemarkie as it was getting late and they accepted gratefully. Richard had found the traveling uncomfortable. Years spent at sea in a damp environment had left him suffering from rheumatisms and he was glad for a break in his journey.  
Just before dinner was served, Amber asked Yannick if he could take a turn with her on the terraces. He led her through the rose bushes, walking slowly down, out of ear-shot. She told him of their encounter with Julia at Westmoor Abbey and of their long conversation with her. She gave him the letters Julia had written, one for Yannick and one for Charley. It was now up to him, she said, Julia was remaining at Westmoor for the time being, but she would go back to Sorano soon, with or without her husband. According to Amber, Augustus was not going to take well her decision to contact her daughter when told.   
They were walking slowly in the twilight surrounded by rose bushes, Amber’s arm was linked to his. From afar, their closeness could be interpreted as the kind that lovers shared, and as he looked on from his bedroom window, Ethan felt his heart bleed at the sight. Yannick had loved women in the past, Charley and Nick were the proof of it if one was needed, and Ethan, for the first time in his life felt jealousy consume him.  
Yannick read Julia’s letter in bed. She explained that her first letter had been written hurriedly when she was still under shock at seeing him again and with a confused mind. She hoped that he would throw it out and forget she ever wrote it. Then she told him that she did not intend to try to wrench her daughter away from him but would like him to allow her to be part of her life. Charley was her legitimate heiress, Sorano would one day be hers and Julia wished that the girl became aware of this sooner rather than later. The letter she had written to Charley was not sealed so that he could read her words and know that she was not trying to undermine him. The words were simple, she begged for Charley’s forgiveness and hoped that she would accept to meet her.

The next morning, after breakfast, Yannick begged for Charley to be excused from her lessons from Miss Leary and he took the girl up to his rooms under the surprised looks of Meredith and Miss Leary. He asked her to listen and not interrupt him until he finished talking. He related the meeting in Falmouth to her, the first letter, Richard and Amber’s visit, and finally, he gave her the letter. The girl had listened attentively to her father. He read her emotions laid bare on her young face, but she did not interrupt, she let him finish and she chose to read her letter before trusting herself to speak to him.  
‘What if she had lost her mind and stood by her first letter? Would you have told me then?’  
‘Yes. I did not tell you immediately because I thought you would make a better decision if you had all the facts. I believe it is the case now.’  
‘And the decision is mine?’  
‘Entirely.’  
Charley looked at her father thoughtfully, she had to take the very first important decision of her life. One which could lead to regrets later if it was the wrong one. She had not realised before how much she had resented her mother’s abandonment. Her mother spoke of her choices dictated by politics and war and Charley found that to her mind they were not good excuses for leaving her new-born behind. Still, Charley had to admit begrudgingly that she was rather glad of the life she’d had with her father and his unconditional love for her.   
‘I’ll have to think about it,’ she said, ‘you will stand by my decision?’  
Yannick put his hand on his heart, ‘yes, I swear it. Decide what you want to do, and I will help you.’  
Charley planted a kiss on her father’s cheek and let him hug her before they returned to their usual occupation of the day. Yannick returned to the drawing-room where Richard and Amber were waiting for him before saying their goodbyes and return to Falmouth. Charley bade them goodbye and thanked them warmly for their help, before making her way to her classroom.  
Charley could not concentrate on her lessons and Miss Leary called it a day. She had understood that Charley’s mind was elsewhere and that it was better to let her think it through. Charley needed to speak to her closest ally and confidant, Meredith, so as soon as they were free, she took his hand and dragged him to his favourite place on the last terrace by the sea, behind the manor and away from prying eyes. There she told him what she had discovered this morning and asked for his thoughts.

They talked for a long time; Meredith, like Charley, could not excuse Julia for abandoning her baby on political grounds. It was not as if their lives had been in danger in any way. He knew deep down that his own mother would never have abandoned him, he was wrenched from her, he woke up sometimes hearing her screams as they took him away. It hurt terribly but at least he knew he had been loved, not tossed aside as Charley and Nicky had been by women who had the means to bring them up not like some poor destitute women who had no choice at all.   
‘The thing is, Charley, she is nonetheless your mother and how can you be sure that you won’t regret not knowing her later in life.’   
She sighed, ‘that’s what I keep thinking. At least if I met her and I found that I really do dislike her I can choose not to see her again knowing why.’  
‘Seems to me you have your answer then. Go and meet her, spend the day with her, ask all you need to ask, as Papa said, it’s better to know all the facts before writing her off for good.’

They returned to the manor and Charley went straight to her father’s study to tell him that she wished to go to Westmoor. They would leave on the next day, better do it while they knew that Julia was still there, and her husband still in Bath.  
Yannick and Charley left the manor the next morning in the phaeton. Charley was allowed to drive as he knew she loved it. It took them less than a day to reach the village near Westmoor where Richard and Amber had stayed. They repaired at the same inn, taking two rooms for two nights, and the next morning they traveled to Westmoor Abbey.   
Amber had told him that Lady Asquith had been quite shaken by Julia’s revelations, she had made it clear that she did not want to have to lay eyes on Mersac. Yannick understood the lady’s misgivings, even if it hurt, he told Charley that he did not wish to remain at the abbey but instead leave her there to spend the day with her mother until he returned before dinner to take her back to the inn.   
Therefore, when they reached Westmoor, Yannick asked to meet with the Principessa, handing a card bearing Charley’s full name, Charlotte de Courcelles. Julia appeared and stood stock still when she saw the beautiful tall girl who accompanied her ex-husband. Yannick was short with her, told her of the arrangement he made with Charley, asked if she agreed to them and when she did, he bowed briefly and left the room.

He drove the carriage to the seaside and enjoyed a long walk on the beach. He was tempted to go for a swim as the weather was good but thought better of it. He did not know the coast or the currents, and it would be stupid to put himself in danger. He returned to the inn for his lunch after driving a long way around. The inn was quite busy, but he found a small quiet table in a corner where he could eat his food while watching the people come and go in the tap-room.   
He soon noticed a group of men standing at the bar because one of them was frequently looking at him. Yannick did not detect signs that lust was driving the man to observe him, it was rather a thoughtful look as if the man was trying to recall where he had seen him before. That was more worrying for Yannick than a lustful gaze would have been. For a start he was used to men lusting after him, all he had to do was to ignore them. On the other hand, to think that this man could have recognised him was distinctly uncomfortable. The last thing he wanted was some kind of scandal. He ate his food more quickly than he’d wished and returned to his room to read. There at least he would be free from prying eyes.  
After two hours or so, he decided to take his book outside to read. The weather was really good, and it was a shame to remain indoors. He thought that the men must have left by now and probably forgotten all about him. He found a bench made of two logs and a plank underneath a tree and he immersed himself in his book again.   
One hour or so later, Yannick was startled when a man loomed at his side from behind the tree. He had not heard him approach. His brain sent out a warning signal, he was not unarmed, he always had a dagger in his boot, but he was sure that the intruder had been purposely quiet in approaching him. He recognised the man who had been staring at him earlier in the tap-room. Before he had time to stand up and confront him, the newcomer spoke:

‘Do you mind if I sit here for a while, I’d like to talk with you?’ The voice was calm and devoid of aggression and Yannick noticed that he was not carrying a weapon, so he bowed his head in acceptance and waited.  
‘It was in India,’ the man said, ‘I could not place you earlier, you look different out of uniform. But I did take a good look at you at the time when I had the chance.’  
‘Did you serve on one of the ships I took?’ Asked Yannick who saw no point in denying his identity to the man.  
‘No. I was one of the rowers on the admiral barge in Kediri. We arrived before your barge, so we got a good look at you and your officers. Then we spent the rest of the night talking of how we were going to spend our prize money once we captured your ship.’  
Yannick cleared his throat, ‘I see. Had you not heard of the expression, ‘don’t count your chickens before they hatch?’   
Unexpectedly, the sailor laughed. ‘How come you speak such good English?’  
‘My mother was English.’  
‘Ah, that’s why you are such a good sailor, then, it’s your English heritage.’ The eyes settled on Yannick were full of merriment. He smiled at the sailor.   
‘Must be it. I can’t say I’m sorry for your loss, I am glad your lot did not catch Danae.’  
‘That’s all right. Tell me how you did it. And also, how you managed to make landfall in France despite our patrols.’   
Yannick’s smile became a laugh, then he started to tell him.

The afternoon passed quickly and most pleasantly; soon it was time to return to the Abbey to collect Charley. The sailor invited him to a game of darts later in the evening if he felt like it. It would depend on Charley’s mood he told the sailor before they parted.  
At Westmoor, a footman let him in and asked him stiffly to wait for Miss Charlotte, he was not offered to sit down. She came on her own. ‘I told her that you’d prefer not to see her again, was I right?’   
‘You were, Matelotte,’ he said, ‘let’s go.’  
Charley had had a fairly good day. It had been awkward at first, but they had somehow managed to avoid the tricky subjects at the start, so they found it easier to talk as the day progressed. Charley met Lord and Lady Asquith as well as Nicholas, Sarah, and the children. Her knowing way with the little ones surprised the company and after they remarked on it, she told them all about Nicky. Her words confirmed what they had already heard from Amber.   
Lady Asquith had refused to believe the story, and even now, she still did not. Although the existence of Nicky could not have been invented by Charley, Lady Asquith thought that Mersac had probably lied to his daughter just as he had lied to Lady Trewin about how the little boy had been conceived.   
Charley had talked candidly, answering their questions about her upbringing on board Danae and the education she’d received. She told them about Meredith too, related his rescue and how close they had become, closer maybe than a real brother and sister could be, she said.  
Julia described Sorano to her, told her of her great love for her horses and her lands, told Charley that the estate would be hers someday and that she hoped her daughter would keep the horse breeding tradition going. Charley told her how much she enjoyed riding too.  
By the end of the day she had conquered their hearts and made some of them seriously question their previous opinion about her father.  
She informed her father that she would like to keep in contact with her mother in the future. Julia had told Charley that she would soon go back to Sorano and that the girl would always be welcome there. Charley did not make any promises except that she would write and would probably come one day. Julia had accepted, she had got more than what she had hoped for, and life did not feel so bad now that she had met Charley. The young girl told her father that she had laughed when she found out that her mother had wanted to call her Victoria Horatia and Julia had finally admitted that it had been a terrible idea.  
They had dinner at the inn and when Yannick told her about the darts game invitation, Charley was enthusiastic about it. They joined in and had a wonderful evening with the sailor that Yannick had met as well as with his friends. He had not told them who their guest and his daughter were. Yannick was grateful to him, it made it easier to keep the evening pleasant and good-natured.

Charley was happier than she had been for a long time. It was not due to the meeting with her mother but rather to the fact that she had her father’s sole attention. She was aware that the feeling was a little selfish but nevertheless it was good not to have to share him. It had not happened for a long time. When there had only been Meredith with her and Papa, she had managed to spend time alone with him. For a start, Meredith liked peace and quiet and he would concentrate on his drawings or paintings for hours leaving her to be with her father and not sharing his attention.   
Then, of course, she had had to share Papa with Hadrian who was more or less always at her father’s side, but then she had loved Hadrian, he treated her like a grown-up, had always been nice to her. Now, Nicky: she had stopped resenting him when she realised that although the boy was always with Papa, he did not interfere with the conversations she had with him. Nicky was happy as long as he was with them. He did not demand attention by talking or asking to be played with, no, he was just content to be included in their lives. Despite all this, it still was not quite the same thing as it was to have Papa just for herself as she had now…  
Now, tomorrow, they would return to Rosemarkie and her father would once more belong to all these others who also loved him and needed him. She was determined to make the most of their day traveling together. She was happy, and she knew that she was lucky to have got the opportunity to meet her mother. Poor Nicky probably never would and as for Meredith, no one knew who Meredith’s parents were. He remembered his mother, but Yannick attempts at finding anything out while in India had come to nothing. The pirates had roamed the seas in a large area, and it was impossible to know where Meredith had been stolen from. Charley fell asleep that night, counting her luck once more.

Because they went to bed late, they got up later than anticipated. They had breakfast and then departed, this time with Yannick driving the phaeton. He pushed the horses hard, resulting in having to change them every 15 miles or so because he did not wish to drive after nightfall. He had already noticed on their way to Westmoor Abbey how poor the villages were, and they had passed several groups of destitute people walking aimlessly on the roads. The view distressed him greatly and also worried him for their own safety at the same time.   
He had heard the customers at the inn mention cases of aggression and attacks on carriages which were why he chose to travel at speed and spend as little time as possible on the small country roads. He felt safer on the major roads which supported a higher load of carriages. They only stopped to change horses at Posting houses and used the time for nature calls. They did not take time to stop for a meal and contented themselves with bread, cheese, and apples while on the move. Charley sensed her father’s anxiety and did not pester him for driving this time. When they turned into the top road leading to Rosemarkie's front entrance, it was still daylight and Yannick breathed a sigh of relief at last.

A few days after Charley and Yannick’s return, the long gallery on the first floor was fully lit up with tens of candelabras to host the first party given by the Lord of the manor since his arrival. Mrs. Harvey had gently objected to the heavy cost of the candles, suggesting that oil lamps could be used instead, and she had been just as gently rebuked by Yannick who wanted plenty of light in the gallery and reminded her that they probably did not possess enough Argand lights to do it. She lifted her eyebrows quizzically at his words and was rewarded by a mischievous smile from her employer. He knew exactly what she was thinking, the cost of the lovely bronze candelabras and candles he’d had to buy far outweigh the cost of a few extra lamps…She had to admit though that the gallery looked beautiful. It had been the latest room that Yannick had restored in the manor. The cost had been steep, but it had given work to some villagers and it was now ready for the future balls and receptions that Charley and Meredith were already planning ahead.  
Most of the villagers came to celebrate the nomination of Simon Martin as their vicar. It would not bring much change to their daily lives because Simon had been officiating in the parish for the last 6 years now, but the nomination meant a lot to him who could now afford to marry his sweetheart, Rosen and set up home in the vicarage with a decent living stipend. Yannick made a small speech to welcome Simon and also included a welcome to Ethan, he underlined that Porthdowns was now a safer place to live in with one man looking after their souls while another looked after their bodies. He made sure that plenty of food and drinks were available and Miss Leary delighted the company when she started to play happy tunes on the pianoforte. She was soon accompanied on the violin by Ethan’s brother, Samuel, and by their father, old Samuel who was quite talented.

Ethan had been surprised by the welcoming speech; he had not been warned about it. He had now settled down at the lodge where he started to have a steady stream of people consulting him on small ailments. He was also busy at the mines. He spent one full day a week at the clay mine which was a fair distance from the village and one at the copper and tin mine which was much nearer. He was not earning much money, his patients gave him a few coins when they had them but, more often than not they thanked him with produce from their gardens when it wasn’t chickens or rabbits. Jonathan had told him that the lodge was free of rent in exchange for his hard work with the villagers who could not offer to pay him. Ethan suspected that the order came from Ian, who had also probably asked Mrs Atkins to call in at the lodge on her way to the manor in the morning to light the kitchen stove and make sure that there was plenty of water heating up ready for Ethan when he woke up.   
It was now nearly three weeks since Ethan had spoken with Yannick at the lodge. Ethan bitterly regretted having let the situation fester. After seeing Ian in the gardens with Lady Amber from his window, he had decided to visit him after his friends had departed and told him how he felt about him. Unfortunately, when he presented himself at the manor, he was told that Mr. Kermor had left for a few days with his daughter. Because Ian’s departure coincided with Lord and Lady Trewin’s, Ethan miserably concluded that Charley and her father had gone to Falmouth to spend a few days there with their friends. He persuaded himself that Ian had replaced him in his bed with the lovely Amber.   
The reception at the manor had been a trial for Ethan. Ian had looked stunningly handsome; it was the first time Ethan had seen him dressed in his best, wearing tight-fit black trousers and a blue coat, a cream embroidered waistcoat, and elaborate cravat. His black hair was swept back with a rebel lock falling on his forehead. He spent the evening going to-and-fro among his guests, with a genuine smile on his face. Yannick had hoped to manage to share at least a few words in a private conversation with Ethan during the evening, alas, in vain, neither he nor Ethan had been left on their own all evening.   
Meredith and Charley had loved every minute of the feast. Charley looked lovely, she wore a pale green frock and her father had gifted her with a pearl pendant and matching earrings. Her hair was up in an elaborate bun bound together with green silk and velvet ribbons; she was escorted by Meredith who was also wearing his best suit with dark blue trousers, coat, yellow waistcoat, and cravat. They made a handsome couple and so grown-up thought Yannick with a pang. They were no longer children and although he was happy and smiled all evening he could not help thinking once more that time was not on his side. He was getting old there was no escaping this fatality.   
His eyes often drifted toward Ethan. He had purposely avoided Ethan the 2 days following their talk because he did not want the man to feel pressured by him. He had foolishly believed that Ethan would visit him the next day or so and that they would have taken up their relationship again from there. He had hoped in vain. Yannick was by now a little angry with the man. Why should it matter to Ethan if Yannick brought his own children up unconventionally? He was proud of them, he admired them greatly tonight, the way they talked easily to the village folk, there was not one ounce of condescendence in their attitude towards people less fortunate than they were, they both genuinely cared for others. If Ethan could not accept his way of bringing them up, there was no place in his life for him.

Two days after the successful party, Yannick and Meredith rode to the clay mine for the day. They trotted happily in the countryside; they had picked that day because it was dry. Yannick had not visited since he had agreed to extend the mining and employ more men. The cost of shipping the clay out was high. The clay was transported and shipped out of Charlestown, which had become a port dedicated to this particular export business over the years. Yannick could not see a way out of it unless he thought again about the project of setting up a porcelain factory and using the material himself. He discussed this with Meredith as they rode to the mine. Meredith’s interests in clay were still there, just as all his other interests were: in drawing, paintings, medicine, architecture…the list was quite long and diverse. He took the opportunity of this time alone with his father to talk about his future. He confided that he was anxious because he had not made up his mind yet regarding his future studies. Yannick was quick to reassure him, it was not a problem to hesitate, nor was it one to get it wrong and change tack later.   
The clay mine manager was happy to see Meredith again, the young man often accompanied his father there. He knew of his interest in manufacturing pottery and he had arranged for Meredith to spend time with an engineer he knew to explain how the clay was transformed into pottery. He inquired about the workers’ health, Dr. Treeve called in once a week to check on the men, and was also available in case of emergency, said the mine manager. He informed Yannick that he was due to come this very day.   
Yannick had come to review the accounts books with the manager, the mine was now a healthy business generating a good profit. He was pleased with the decision he had taken to expand the works and take on more workers. The working conditions were hard he knew. The manager had been surprised when Yannick had given his workers a rate of pay quite a lot higher than his competitors. By doing so he had obtained a hard-working team of men he could rely on to do their best in their job to make sure they kept their positions. The presence of a doctor saved time and money in the long run because wounds and small ailments were taken care of and recovered far more quickly than if left unattended.   
The manager left Yannick perusing the mine’s books and looked after Meredith who wished to tour the mine. After two hours of reading figures and checking returns against expenses, Yannick had had enough. He was satisfied that money was not wasted, and the books were soundly kept. At the back of his mind was the thought that Ethan was near and that he might be able to have his long-awaited-for conversation with him.   
He made his way to the infirmary. A worker with a bandaged hand was just coming out as Yannick came in. Ethan was on his own, drying his hands, he lifted his head, but the words failed him when he saw who had just walked in. Yannick bowed and said:

‘Are you free to talk or are you expecting more patients?’  
‘I am free. I’ve seen the last one for today and was about to go home.’  
Yannick sat down. ‘The manager told me that your presence here makes quite a difference to the workforce. Are you enjoying the work?’  
Ethan snorted. ‘Let’s put it this way, I am not enjoying seeing men mangled, but I am happy to mend them and in doing so allow them to continue to live a decent enough life. I think you know that they are grateful to you for their pay and for my presence here. I also am grateful for my pay, for the lodge and for Mrs. Atkins’ presence in the mornings,’ he stopped and smiled, ‘she even makes my coffee now, did you know? I find a full hot pot on the stove every morning when I come down, I have never been so spoilt in my life.’  
‘Not even in London, in your big hospital?’   
‘Lord, no! I had a room nearby but had to get out to get myself my first coffee of the day. You see I had always been short of money so when I started to work in London and earned, I put most of it away to make sure I had some to fall back on in case my luck turned.’  
‘I see. Well, no, not really. There was a time in my life when I hardly had any money, but then again, I had no need for it because I was fed, and clothes were cheap enough. Before and after that particular time, I had no money worries.’  
‘I had noticed that we came from very different backgrounds.’ Ethan decided that it was now or never with this man who obsessed him since they’d met, ‘it must be most pleasant for you to have found a lady-friend of your own class.’  
Yannick opened his mouth, then laughed, ‘Lady-friend? Who are you talking about?’  
Ethan was irritated by the reaction, ‘I don’t know who she is, just that you seemed very close, walking arms entwined on the terraces the other day.’  
‘Amber!’ He gave Ethan a broad smile, delighted at the other man’s unexpected reaction. ‘You’re spying on me! Please tell me that you’re jealous!’  
Ethan blushed, embarrassed by Ian’s reaction. ‘No! yes! Oh, I don’t know, you infuriate me!’  
‘That’s a relief. I thought you were now indifferent to me.’  
‘I’ll never be indifferent to you,’ said Ethan shaking his head, ‘I’ve spent all my life hiding my preferences for men. My father and my brother beat me up so badly you’ve no idea, then at sea, I saw men flogged to death because they had been caught in compromising position. In London, I saw some hanged for the same thing. I am not ashamed to say that it terrifies me, so when you told me that you did not hide your preferences for men to your children or your servants, I was shocked and afraid, I cannot understand how you can take such a risk for your life, and yes, I admit that it frightens me.’  
‘Your objection to renewing our relationship was not because of the way I bring up my children then?’  
‘No. I rather like the way you bring them up. It’s the openness of your sexual proclivities which worries me. The thought that my family could know how we are together freaked me out.’  
Yannick asked gently, ‘and are we together, Ethan? We’ve hardly seen each other in three weeks.’  
‘What about your lady’s friend? Amber is it?’  
‘Amber is my friend and also the wife of my dearest friend. She is not and never will be my mistress even though she is very desirable. I would never, ever, cheat on a friend.’ He continued after a pause. ‘Amber helped me resolve a problem, another problem I should say, with Charley. All is well with the child now. Regarding my taste for male lovers, not many people know. And I trust every single one of them to say nothing. They are Charley and Meredith, Loïk who has been with me for 25 years and Simona with me for 12, John, and Mrs. Harvey who were Hadrian’s servants and knew all about him and me subsequently. Amber and Richard I told, and Thomas who was Hadrian’s closest friend has guessed. Miss Leary suspected and thanks to my dear daughter, she now knows for sure.’   
Ethan nodded. ‘I thought your whole household knew, that you were indifferent to the risks and that is what worried me. You have been in my mind every day since I told you I’d think about our relationship. I did not come back to you because, yes, I was jealous, I thought you indifferent to me. I missed you dreadfully and regret my conduct.’ He finished lamely.  
‘Oh, Ethan, there’s so much you don’t know about me,’ he sighed heavily, ‘I have done much thinking, I think you are an honest man and that if I trust you with a secret you will keep it for yourself. I want to be with you more than ever, but you need to know who I am first, and I suspect you will have to do some hard thinking once more after I tell you.’  
Ethan frowned. ‘Is it that bad, your secret, that you think I might run a mile?’  
Yannick smiled. ‘You’ll see. Can I come and talk to you later tonight at the lodge?’  
‘Yes. You will be most welcome.’  
‘I’ll leave you now, must find Meredith, and make our way home. Shall we ride back together?’  
‘Yes, unless you plan to gallop all the way, I am not the best of riders.’  
‘Don’t worry, Meredith and I are not daredevils on horseback, that’s Charley.’

The two men exited the infirmary together. As it happened, Meredith was waiting for them. He was ready to go home and the three of them trotted home.  
Yannick waited until everyone had gone to bed before he made his way to the lodge. He had warned Ethan that he could not meet him until very late. He exited the manor by the kitchen entrance. He could do this very discreetly thanks to the spiral staircase which took him directly down to the small entrance hall near the kitchen. He’d had a key cut for him soon after he had set up home at the manor for the purpose of coming in and out when he wished without disturbing the servants and also because it gave him the freedom of movement he craved for.   
On board Danae, in the close confinement of a ship of war, every one of his movements or action had been seen or heard by someone. If he had a nightmare or if Charley had cried more than usual, the whole crew had known of it without minutes. At Rosemarkie manor, he had renewed with the pleasure of keeping his own company, in the way that he’d had when he was a child, alone for hours walking by the sea, resourcing himself especially if his father had visited his room on the previous night. He had never spoken of this to anyone except to Hadrian. It had taken the incident in London and their subsequent reconciliation for him to talk about it to him. He had needed to know if what had happened to him would matter to Hadrian or not. He had been ashamed to admit to his lover that he had been a victim at one stage in his life. For the same reason, he had not told him before either that he had been raped by his fellow officers after André had been killed. He had wanted Hadrian to believe that he had always been in control of his life and of his acts, made his own choices, one of which leading him to seduce Hadrian to come to his bed that night on Kediri.   
Hadrian and Yannick for all their mutual strong physical attraction had sensed a power relationship between them that night at the reception, but both had been equally satisfied with the outcome by morning. Hadrian was proud of himself for getting the French Admiral to surrender beneath him in bed and Yannick had felt smug to have seduced an English officer and made him risk his career and life for the privilege of having him.   
There was no such power relationship with Ethan. When they had met by the shore, neither had known who the other one was. Physical attraction was all they had needed to bed with each other. Later on, when they had found out their respective identities it had not changed things or so Yannick had believed until Ethan’s remark about them being from different backgrounds and social class earlier this afternoon upset Yannick a little. He believed in the great ideals of the French Republic, liberty, equality, fraternity and he hoped that Ethan, who knew that Yannick was a landed gentleman, would not be bothered when he found out that his lover was also titled: an earl in his own right, the elder son of a duke, and a retired rear-admiral to boot.

Still, there was no avoiding the issue if he wanted a relationship based on trust with Ethan.  
He only needed one gentle tap at the lodge back door for it to open. He entered and before he’d had time to say anything, he found himself in Ethan’s arms, both kissing hungrily. No, he thought, that’s not the right way to go about it. He had to stop this before they made love. He broke the kiss, regain control, he told himself.   
‘We have to talk first.’  
Ethan looked into his eyes, still holding him firmly against his body.   
‘Why? I am a good listener, but I am not sure I will be able to concentrate if I have you so near and unable to have you. We both need to fuck, and it won’t be our first time; we can talk after, comfortably in bed.’   
Yannick wavered, ‘and if you can’t live with what I tell you, what then?’   
‘I will ask you to go home. I will bitterly regret this outcome, but at least I will have the good memory of one last passionate embrace and hope that we can at least be friends.’   
Yannick laughed and rested his head on Ethan’s neck, his lips nudging his ear, his hands caressing his back gently, ‘take me to bed, then, lover.’  
Afterward, he had to admit, Ethan had had a point, it was easier to talk lying comfortably in bed, with his head in the crook of Ethan’s neck, his arm around his lover’s waist and one of his legs caught between Ethan’s. Their eyes could not meet in that position. It helped not to see Ethan’s reactions. Yannick’s were opened, fixed on Ethan’s nipple while Ethan’s were closed. Ethan was indeed a good listener; he did not interrupt once.   
Yannick told Ethan his life story in the same dispassionate way that he would have related the life of another. He did not go into details of his relationship with Hadrian, this would come later, maybe, if Ethan asked, if the other man chose to stay with him. He became aware of Ethan’s reaction to his words by his change in breathing, the tightening of his hands on him. The last thing he related was meeting Julia again in Falmouth and the recent journey to Westmoor Abbey with Charley. He stopped. Ethan was not speaking, no doubt he needed to think. At least he had not pushed him off the bed. He noticed that Ethan’s hand was tangled in his hair, one of his fingers twirling a lock. He allowed himself to relax a little, he had not realised how tense he had been throughout his long speech. His mouth was very dry too.   
Ethan moved at last, with his hand on Yannick’s shoulder he pushed his body off his gently in order to have him lying flat on the bed. Their eyes met this time. Ethan, still not speaking, layover Yannick, his mouth seeking the other man’s, kissing him gently, deeply. Yannick moaned, his hands went up to Ethan’s shoulders, his fingers clutching and pulling him down in a desperate way. Ethan took his time with his lover, responding to his desperation with gentleness only. He won him over, Yannick abandoned himself to Ethan’s tenderness, tears running down his cheeks before he came undone.  
They fell asleep immediately after their love-making, overwhelmed by their emotions. Yannick woke up as usual around 4 am, he was still in Ethan’s arms and he was careful not to wake him up. He was happier than he had been for months, he had not believed that he could fall in love again and yet he had. And the man in his arms knew who he was and accepted him. The future looked brighter today, he slept again.

They woke up at the same time upon hearing Mrs. Atkins enter the lodge and make her way to the kitchen. They kissed, and Yannick got out of bed. He had stayed at the lodge far later than he should have done. He dressed silently and murmured in Ethan‘s ear that he would leave as soon as she had departed, walking the long way around to the manor front entrance by the top road. Ethan held him back and stole another kiss.   
‘Late for late, you may as well have a coffee downstairs before you leave.’   
He was right of course. Ethan got up and dressed also and as soon as they heard Mrs. Atkins leave, they went down to the kitchen. The coffee pot was full, left on the side of the stove to keep warm, its aroma strong in the small kitchen. They helped themselves and sat at the table facing each other.   
‘Thanks for your honesty, it can’t have been easy for you,’ Ethan was watching him carefully. One thousand questions were in his mind to ask, the first one was, why me? How can a man like you fall for me? Ethan dared not ask, not yet anyway. He did not want to spoil this moment, his newly found happiness. Yannick’s hand covered his:  
‘It was not so bad; I could not move forward with my life without telling you. Understand, Ethan, I don’t just want you in my bed, nice though as it is. I’ve had time to get to know you through the eyes of others as well as through mine and I have fallen in love with you. I could not let you ignore who I am, if we got closer, you would have asked questions. I know there are many who wonder in the village where I come from. You deserved the truth.’  
Ethan kissed his hand, ‘I love you, and yes I had questions, still do. I am thrilled and afraid at the same time; can we really live this love of ours?’  
‘We’ll need to be discreet, very careful and we will be frustrated at times I do not doubt. We probably will not have as many nights together as we wish to have. Maybe I should not have given you the lodge,’ he said playfully, ‘for I will no longer have a reason to keep you at the manor for the night now that you live so very near!’   
Ethan pulled a face, ‘true, but people won’t understand if you take it away now though.’  
‘No, I guess you’ll have to keep it and put up with me visiting you at night instead.’   
Ethan leaned on for a kiss. ‘Please do, anytime, lover.’ He whispered before touching the parted lips of his love with his own.

They found a way to meet every day, Yannick accompanied Ethan to the clay mine and to the copper mine once a week. He was also a frequent visitor to ‘the Black dog’ now, enjoying lunch and a drink with Ethan and his sister and brother-in-law, and of course, he visited the poor-house he had extended with Ethan to take care of the abandoned children and adults who had fallen on hard times. They kept their distances from each other in public, were careful of the way they addressed each other, or look at each other too. It had not been too difficult, the stakes were high, and both had been used to hide their true nature all their lives after all.   
Yannick made his way to the lodge at night several times a week and left in the morning. Everyone at the manor was used to the master going for walks or swims very early in the morning ever since he had moved in at the manor, generally returning in time for breakfast with his family. Yannick was very cautious when leaving at night though, knowing that this was the most dangerous time. The lodge had a back door, thankfully it was hidden from view from the road and the manor’s windows by hedges that Ethan had made sure to keep as high as possible. Yannick had a key to the door and could therefore enter the lodge very quickly and discreetly when he wished.   
At first, he had regretted this sneaking out to meet his lover at night, he had enjoyed living openly with Hadrian, who was officially his house guest, with the two of them going up to his rooms in the evening, share a drink, and go to bed, without the need to worry about getting caught or having to leave secretly in the morning. After a few weeks into his new love affair, he found that the illicit adventure was exciting, all said and done he had to admit that he liked a little danger in his life, not as ready to settle into a safe routine as he had imagined after all. He had kept this from Ethan though for he knew that his lover did not share his taste for adventure in the least.


	8. Christmas at Rosemarkie - 1817 -

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The whole family meets in Cornwall for the festive season. Anne-Laure comes to term with her brother's choice in love.

Anne-Laure was really happy to spend Christmas with her brother’s family in Cornwall. Max and Angie had been counting the days ever since they had heard of their parents’ project. They had been to Rosemarkie twice already, once in August 1816 and once this year in July. They had loved these holidays. Uncle Ian had taken them on his little boat with their cousins every time the weather had been good. They had ridden in the countryside, played indoors and out with Meredith and Charley and they could not wait to be with them again.  
Anne-Laure had renewed her acquaintance with her brother little by little. He had talked to her and Alexander about his life in France and his cruise in India, about Julia and Alexis, but he had not spoken about the allegations made against him in the popular newssheets. Alex and Anne-Laure had not asked either. Anne-Laure because she was afraid to, Alex because he was uncomfortable with the matter.   
When he had first met them in London, Yannick had made no mention of Hadrian, he had told them they were visiting London, that they had stayed with a friend until they had found suitable accommodation, that was all. A white lie of course. He had not wanted to jeopardise their newly found reunion with stories about his past private life that they would find unsavoury.   
The month of August 1816 had put a lot of strain on his nerves. He’d had to put on a happy face although he had felt like crying in despair most of the time. At least Meredith and Charley had understood that Hadrian’s name wasn’t to be mentioned and no embarrassing questions had been asked.   
July 1817 visit had been easier, and Anne-Laure had seen the difference in her brother’s mood. He was happier than on the previous year, she thought, although his eyes were often looking away with a deep sadness in them. She wished she knew how to help him, only she had a feeling it was far beyond her means to do so.  
She mentioned it to Alex one night, after they stopped in a posting house on their way to Cornwall to celebrate Christmas together, had Yannick said something to him? He had not, and Alex admitted that he did not feel that he knew Yannick enough yet to pry. Louis probably knew more, he added, but he would not say a thing to them. Anne-Laure agreed with her husband, she had noticed that sometimes Louis and Yannick had been talking in earnest and stopped immediately when someone approached them.

Anna and Louis were traveling with them in Alex’s large coach, with servants and baggage following in a smaller carriage. Anna had not heard from Valentin, who was probably still in France. Valentin had not risked coming back to the house in London and she doubted that he would. He had been withdrawing large sums of money though and she had taken steps with her accountants to keep as little cash in the bank as possible, investing the profits of her business ventures in real estate under Louis’s name instead to prevent Valentin from drawing out too much cash and endanger their business. It was lucky that Valentin knew nothing about banking and business and had agreed to give power of attorney to his solicitor and create a trust for Louis. He knew so little that he had not realised that his trusted solicitor was in fact working for his intelligent and cunning wife.  
Anna’s anger and disgust at her husband’s behaviour had wiped out any love or friendship that had remained in her marriage. She was grateful to have Louis by her side. Louis was such a kind, reliable young man, the best son one could wish to have. She liked Yannick too, she had never heard that she had a step-son, and a famous one at that, before that dreadful night in London when she had also found out what a despicable man she had married. Anna had trusted Louis when he had told her that the pamphlets told a heap of lies about his half-brother’s past life.

As soon as the coach arrived at Rosemarkie’s front door, Meredith and Charley burst out to welcome their visitors. They had been in the little-used front sitting-room next to their father’s study when they had seen the coach coming from the top road and had rushed through the hall; Nicky had seen them running past from the study’s open door and was following, curious to see what the excitement was about. He had been told about the visit, and about Christmas and presents, some would be even better than the ones Papa brought back from Falmouth, or the ones he had received from his birthday last month, had said Charley.   
Nicky had just turned 4 years old. He was speaking well now, his eating was still slow, he was still eating small pieces at the time, savouring each one, but he always finished his plate and his health was much improved. Unfortunately, his slight limp would never disappear, his right leg was slightly shorter than his left one. He was much stronger due to the long walks he made with his father or his siblings. A shoe with a higher sole helped him a great deal. He loved running around, chasing the dogs or the cats in the meadow, the chickens too if he managed to get in the farmyard. He then found that if he did manage it, he was the one being chased by either Tamsin or Simon who was much taken by the little boy. They always caught him in the end and picked him up laughing his head off when they punished him by ticking his little wriggling body.  
Nicky reached the great hall when the visitors entered the house. He remembered Max and Angie and aunt Laurie best of all. Anne-Laure had spent a lot of time with the little boy so unfairly deprived of love and of a mother in his first 2 years. She was glad to see him thrive now. She picked him up and gave him a big hug, before hugging Meredith and Charley in turn.

Yannick was not at home, he was at the vicarage with Simon, said Meredith, planning a feast with the distribution of presents for the village children. Yannick still did not turn up for church services on Sunday, but he had changed his attitude toward the church since Simon had taken charge of the parish. He recognised that the young man was doing his best to help the poor and that therefore they had quite a few things in common. Together with Ethan and the schoolmaster, they made a good team help ease the hardship in the village. Simon never attempted to lecture him or try to convert him. Yannick had told him that he had been brought up in the catholic faith but had stopped believing at some point in his childhood. Simon had not questioned the reason.   
Yannick could never tell him of the hours he had spent on his knees crying and begging Lord Jesus and the Virgin Mary to make his father stop visiting his room at night. He had never believed either that they had answered his prayers when his father sent him to college. A loving God surely would not have been so cruel as to take the life of his beloved mother and separate him from his sister in exchange for him to be free from his father’s attention.

The visitors were led to their rooms, Angela was sharing with Charley and Meredith with Max. Alex and Anne-Laure were given one of the newly decorated rooms and Louis, much to Charley and Meredith’s surprise was given what used to be Hadrian’s set of rooms. Only two months earlier, Yannick had found the courage to clear them out. He had emptied the wardrobes of Hadrian’s clothes, taken his books down to the library, and put the rest of his belongings in a chest to store in the attic. Miss Leary had helped him with the clothes, she had sent them away to be given far away from Cornwall for she knew that Yannick would not want to see another man wearing his lost lover’s clothes. The bedroom, dressing room, and sitting room had not just been cleared out of their previous owner’s things, curtains, tapestries, carpets, and bedclothes had all been changed and the apartment was now ready for Louis.   
Charley was a little disappointed with her cousin Max. When they had met in London, playing with his boat on the Pond and later in the summer holidays at the manor, she had believed that although she was two years younger than him and a girl, they would keep being best of friends. Now, 5 months later, she was now finding that Max was seeking Meredith’s company more than hers and it hurt her. She talked to Miss Leary about it, one afternoon after the two lads had locked themselves in their bedroom to discuss some book which was ‘not her kind of book’ had said Max. She had been furious as well as hurt, what did he know what her kind of book was anyway? He never asked!  
Miss Leary had patiently explained to her that as they were growing up, it was normal that interests changed. She could not expect now that the boys would be interested in the same things as she did, and she should get to know Angela better. Well, Angie was sweet, but she was one year younger than her and so far, they had not found a single interest in common.

At least, the weather had not been too bad although the wind was much too strong for sailing. It remained mostly dry, so they were able to go out for rides. Charley was the best rider, she always won the races effortlessly, leaving the boys way behind. Max had not been a fair loser; he had complained at first that the horse he was given was a little slow until Meredith suggested that he used their father’s horse instead and see that Charley would still beat him.   
‘Aren’t you bothered to be beaten by a girl?’  
Meredith just laughed. ‘Of course not, she bests me at riding, Greek and Latin, sailing, I best her at drawing, painting, engineering, that’s life, can’t be good at everything!’  
Max shook his head, at college his new friends’ attitude towards girls was simple: girls were inferior beings not as bright as boys and good only for marrying and producing children. Meredith just commented that he must have very dumb friends at college if that was what they thought, and he was glad that his father had not sent him away to such a place.

The four youngsters finally found that they had a common liking for card games. When the weather got too cold or too wet to go out, they played cards for hours, switching teams and thoroughly enjoying themselves. Meredith also liked chess and started to teach Max, Charley was not as interested in chess as her brother was, she had found one centre of interest between herself and Angie: the piano. Charley had taken a while to get to enjoy playing. Angie was a very good player and she encouraged Charley to persevere, they were soon playing four hands pieces sat next to each other and much to the enjoyment of the adults.  
Two days before Christmas, more guests arrived, Lord and Lady Trewin, Thomas, Alicia, and their two children. Alicia and Simona were happily chatting about babies, Anne-Laure was spending as much time as she could play with Nicky, Amber was catching up on gossips with her old friend Miss Leary while the men exchanged on naval matters, every one of them was a retired sailor. Stories were told, laughs heard throughout the house.   
Alex had not missed the brooding look in his wife’s eyes when she played with the little ones, they had decided at one point that two children were enough to keep them busy, and he wondered if his wife was not having second thoughts.

The company got together on Christmas Day for the traditional dinner, the cook had done wonder this year again, the children had spent the morning opening their presents and Yannick thought that the manor had never been so noisy. He had toyed with the idea of inviting Ethan for Christmas dinner at the manor and had been pre-empted by his lover who told him that his father had invited him to join the family dinner at ‘the black dog’. Yannick was at the same time relieved and disappointed by Ethan’s declaration.  
Ethan’s reluctance to admit their relationship to Yannick’s close friends upset his lover who hated to have to lie when questioned about the reason behind his new obvious happy looks. Amber had often looked at him with a knowing and mischievous expression that suggested she was well-aware that her friend had found happiness again in someone’s arms. If Ethan had been invited, she would have guessed who it was. On the other hand, he was relieved because his sister and her husband might have found unusual for him to invite Ethan and none of the other important persons of the village life, they might have asked questions and he still was not sure they could accept his past and present lovers.

Boxing day’s celebrations were held in the new village hall. Simon the vicar and Rosen his wife, Jonathan the estate steward, and Clowance his wife, Cedric Smith the schoolteacher and his wife Emily, and Ethan were present and introduced to Yannick’s small circle of family and close friends. Ethan’s family was also present and was introduced. Old Samuel was there and although he would never admit to it, he was extremely proud of his son. He knew that if the lord of the manor held him in great esteem and was now seen occasionally drinking or dining in his pub with Ethan it was because he valued his son’s company. Ethan was appreciated by all in the village and the farms as well as in the mines where he never refused to attend someone in need of medical treatment, whether they could afford to pay him or not.   
Yannick too was proud of Ethan, and proud to be loved by this unassuming, gentle, and selfless man. He felt safe and loved in his arms. Ethan was always attentive to his pleasure when he made love to him and to cause him no discomfort. Ethan had had some difficulties accepting that Yannick sometimes enjoyed rough sex, he had tried to explain to Ethan that when he was in the mood for it, a little pain brought him greater pleasure at the end and Ethan had played along reluctantly, but not fully satisfyingly for Yannick. He had not had the heart to tell Ethan especially as his lover had needed to be reassured afterward that Yannick was all right.

Yannick could not help comparing Ethan and Hadrian in bed; Hadrian had never had any problems with giving Yannick the hard sex he sometimes demanded; Hadrian had always been hungry for his lover’s body, taking him at least once a day, in their bedroom at night or in the study or any other room of the manor if his need arose, despite the risks of getting caught by a servant. Ethan could wait; he did not want to take any risk, he was not a warrior, he was a caregiver, and although he was passionate in his love-making he liked to take his time and conquer his lover with gentleness. They had talked about Ethan’s cautiousness which could at times frustrate Yannick who had reminded him that he had shown no such caution on the beach the first time they’d met. Ethan had mumbled some poor excuses and prevarications and Yannick had enjoyed teasing him about it. Hadrian had never used his mouth on Yannick, Yannick had pleasured him once this way, but had felt Hadrian uncomfortable with the act despite his telling that he had enjoyed it. Hadrian had never asked for a repeat performance and Yannick had sadly come to term that this pleasure was going to be denied to him. It was very different with Ethan. Yannick remembered his shock when Ethan had taken him in his mouth on the very first day they met on the beach, since then they nearly always used their mouth on each other, before moving on to other things or not depending on their moods.  
It was evidently clear to the members of Yannick’s party that day that Ethan was special. Yannick had made no difference between greeting him and greeting the other notable people of the village, but his children had. Nicky, for one, had run straight into Ethan’s arms, Charley had gone for a kiss on the cheek and Meredith had given him his most beautiful smile when shaking his hand. Nicky had requested to be picked up and Ethan had immediately complied. Nicky was now seating astride of Ethan’s shoulders and loving the fact that he was now the tallest one in the assembly.

Amber and Richard exchanged a knowing look. Ethan was handsome although not as much as Hadrian had been with his golden locks and dazzling blue eyes; Ethan’s hair was fair also, a lighter shade, and his eyes light grey. Ethan seemed unaware of his good looks, he was tall, the tallest man there and broad, he had a kind smile and kind eyes, he really listened to Nicky, not pretend as some adults do with children sometimes, and he let himself be directed around the room by the little boy. Yannick interfered after a little while, he picked up Nicky and stood talking to Ethan, holding Nicky’s hand. They looked good together, for all their cautiousness they could not help displaying a familiarity and ease with one another which convinced Amber that Ethan was the man responsible for their friend’s newfound happiness.  
Later that night, Yannick had to carry Nicky asleep in his arms all the way back to the manor. The long walk which was winding up to the house had been lit with lanterns all the way and children and adults enjoyed the trip in the cold fresh air after the stuffy atmosphere in the village hall with its mixed smells of food, lanterns, and people crowded together for a few hours. Only Richard had gone up in a chaise, Richard was still having trouble with his articulations and the path with its numerous steps would have been too painful. Amber had managed to have a word with Ethan and had asked him to call to visit her husband on the next day. She tried not to show her worries to Richard who was not an easy man to convince to call for a doctor, she hoped that he would not create a fuss when Ethan called.  
Everyone was glad to get to bed early that night and Yannick chose to risk visiting Ethan at the lodge. Ethan had told him how much he missed his visits since his family and friends had arrived and Yannick had promised to try to get away soon to join him. It was a happy reunion for both of them and a most pleasant conclusion to an excellent day.

They saw each other again the next morning at the manor when Ethan called to visit Richard. Ethan had been warned by Amber that her husband would not very receptible to a physician’s consultation, so he officially called to check up on the twins who had a runny nose; after seeing the babies he called in the library on the pretext of looking for Yannick and he found Richard on his own in the room drinking a cup of tea in peace. Ethan begged for a cup and sat down with Richard and managed little by little to stir the conversation to his health. Richard was no fool. He quickly understood the younger man’s objective and also who had put him up to it. He decided to play along. Richard found it hard to grow old and feel his body letting him down slowly; having a much younger wife did not help he confided to Ethan, he wanted to keep her happy, but because he worried that he would not be able to go all the way, he preferred to abstain from intimacy. Ethan gave him some sound advice such as sleeping well, eating less, taking regular exercise to keep his muscles toned and he also told him to speak honestly with his wife about it. Intimate relationships were a healthy exercise, he told him, he had to stop worrying about it, take it more lightly, laugh with her; Ethan told him that he was sure that Amber was the kind of woman who’d understand, she genuinely wished to help her husband.   
When Ethan came out of the library over two hours had passed, Richard was a happier man than when he had found him. He had accepted a physical check-up from Ethan, one that he had never in his life imagined he would ever agree to. Ethan had locked the door and closed the curtains and had done his best to reassure the old admiral along the way. He had been glad to report afterward that there was no medical disorder that should stop Richard from having an intimate relationship.  
Yannick asked Ethan to stay for lunch, they sat side by side, talking with the company about the last days' celebrations, Ethan mentioned his Christmas dinner with his family, the first one in 25 years, and how nice it had been. Then he returned to the lodge, he was holding consultations all through the afternoon until late. Yannick accompanied him to the door and promised to visit him again soon.

The next day, Richard, Amber, Thomas, and Alicia returned to Falmouth and they parted with the promise of seeing each other again after the new year, during Richard and Amber’s traditional dinner party. Amber gave Yannick a kiss on the cheek and asked him to bring Ethan to the dinner.   
Yannick shook his head, laughing, ‘is there something that escapes you at all?’   
‘Not from men, no,’ she replied, before adding, ‘talk to your sister, I suspect she thinks we are having an affair and she is unhappy about it,’   
‘and you don’t think that the truth will be worse for her to hear?’  
‘maybe, I don’t know, but the air will be clearer, that’s for sure; also I dislike the idea that your sister suspects me to be unfaithful to Richard…’

He smiled at her and nodded. She was probably right, he had been thinking along those same lines after catching some of Anne-Laure’s unhappy glances toward him, just like the one she was giving him now: he had been talking quietly with Amber, both standing back a little and, as usual, Amber had her arm slid around his.  
As he walked back to the house, he realised that the moment to talk had probably arrived: Anne-Laure, Anna, Alexander, and Louis were alone in the drawing-room. They stopped their conversation immediately as he entered. Louis was flushed and embarrassed by whatever they had been talking about.

‘We have never talked about the other allegations made against me,’ he said straight away looking at his sister, ‘aren’t you curious?’  
Anne-Laure took a deep breath. ‘When you walked back into my life last year, you gave me a choice, remember? I chose to believe your word and I still do; nothing has changed. Regarding the other accusations, and your current private life, I know you will tell me the truth, but I am not sure that I wish to know.’  
‘You prefer suspecting that Amber is my mistress? That I could betray my dearest friend bedding his wife? Is that the kind of man you think I am?’  
She looked straight into his eyes, saw his hurt, but nevertheless asked, her chin up in provocation. ‘Is she?’   
‘No. She is not.’ He said firmly with annoyance clearly in his voice. ‘Ethan and I are lovers.’  
He saw Louis sigh in relief. And Anne-Laure did not look so surprised after all.   
‘So, the accusations were true.’ She said flatly.  
‘Not all of them. Do you want to know which ones are or do you prefer letting the matter rest and fester between us?’  
‘I can take it. Don’t expect me to approve, but I can live with it, I think. Louis knew I suppose; he has been defending you regarding my suspicions about Amber. Alex what do you think?’  
Alex nodded. ‘I’d like to hear the truth. I never believed that all the rumours were true, but I did not discount all of them either. I’d like to know what really happened.’  
Yannick sat down. ‘I’ll tell you. Louis knows some of it, not all. I’ll hold nothing back.’  
Camille, André, the two guards. He related these stories easily, he was not emotional about them, not even about Camille, it happened in another lifetime. He denied the orgies on board, denied that he ever got any of his sailors to his bed. When he got to his story with Hadrian, it was far more difficult. Should he really tell them everything? He hesitated, he had only told the whole story to Ethan, he had never told Thomas about the first night. He realised that he had interrupted his speech, but that his attitude revealed that he had not finished. He took a deep breath before continuing:  
‘You know the irony of this whole vilifying attack against me is that they never found out about my worst scandalous behaviour.’ He stopped, he looked at Louis. ‘You met Hadrian in London.’ Louis nodded, and Yannick continued. ‘We lived together here at Rosemarkie for nearly 4 months, officially he was my house guest.’ He explained.  
Louis had liked Hadrian, but he had not known what had happened between them in London or how close they had been. He had left for Cumbria with Laure and Alex very soon after Yannick’s last visit at his sister’s house, and Yannick had never mentioned him again. Louis had learnt of Hadrian’s untimely death in London upon their return but had never spoken of it with his brother. To find out the reality of the relationship explained Yannick’s subdued mood when they had visited Cornwall in August.  
‘There are quite a few gentlemen who have house guests for months, you know, it is not regarded as scandalous behaviour, hardly like Lord Byron’s, is it?’ Commented Louis.  
‘No, it’s not what was scandalous. I met Hadrian at a reception in Kediri and I let him into my room that very night. The year was 1813; can you imagine the scandal if we had been caught? An English captain in the bed of a French Admiral?’  
Alex gasped. ‘Hadrian…. Keighley? The fool! He would have hanged for treason and buggery! He was one of the 4 captains you escaped from in Kediri. God! Did he let you escape in return for your favours???’  
‘NO, NO!!! I already told you what happened. Hadrian did not help me in any way I assure you and I expected no help from him. We both took a terrible risk, he did far more than I because as you said he gambled with his life. Danae sailed on the following night as planned, I explained how. I met Hadrian again by pure chance in a Posting house after coming back from meeting Louis in Oxford in April 1816. He traveled with me to Rosemarkie and we lived here until our London visit in June. I am going to hold back the rest of my story with Hadrian, I wish to keep it private. You only need to know that Hadrian died in early July of that year in London, just after our family reunion. I met Ethan in August this year and I fell in love with him, he makes me happy, he is part of my life now and I will not give him up.’ He had talked to them with his body taut in his chair, he now slumped back and waited.   
Alex was rubbing his eyes with his palms, Anne-Laure was very still, Louis for once was speechless. Anne-Laure recovered first:  
‘Thank you for being honest. But then you were always honest, weren’t you? I should never have doubted you. I can’t approve this love of yours, sorry; I will not judge your past conduct, it’s not my place to do so, besides, what is done is done. I fear for you, you are choosing a dangerous way of life, brother, have you thought of your children?’  
‘Yes, they are the reason I came to live here in the first place. I did try to live a chaste life, but that meant a lonely life too; anyway, I did not choose how I felt for Hadrian or Ethan, it just happened, it is not something I can control.’  
‘The intimate side of love can be controlled; you can keep it platonic can you not?’  
Yannick smiled sadly. ‘We probably could, but we are not ready to live with this kind of frustration.’  
He read understanding in Alex’s eyes. Louis was sorry for his brother, and disappointment because he had hoped for more understanding on the part of Anne-Laure.   
Yannick got up and went to the door.  
‘Time to call the children for lunch, don’t you think? And maybe plan something to do for the afternoon?’

As soon as he mentioned which activity to choose for the afternoon, Charley said excitedly that the weather was fine, the tide was high, and they could go sailing, Papa had recently purchased a cutter to replace the small boat they had used since arriving in England. Yannick was suddenly faced with 4 pairs of hopeful expecting eyes watching him and it made him laugh. Anna said she’d welcome a nap rather than a trip at sea, Anne-Laure declared that she could do with a quiet afternoon on her own, Alex and Louis agreed with obvious pleasure in Alex’s eyes. They invited Miss Leary and Loïk to join them, both declined. Miss Leary, like Anne-Laure, was looking forward to a peaceful afternoon on her own, Loïk preferred to remain with his wife and babies.  
Alex had never seen the cutter; he had not expected to see such a smart little vessel than the one tied on the far end of the pier in the inner boatyard. It was a far cry from the one he had got to sail with on their previous visits to Cornwall. His expert eye immediately saw that this little beauty was made for speed and he knew he was going to have a really fun afternoon.  
Charley and Meredith jumped eagerly on board, taking the tarpaulins off, eyes on the mast, impatient for the rest of the crew to get on. Max, Louis, and Alex jumped in in turn and Yannick helped Angie to cross to her father’s arms after handing Nicky to him first. He had hesitated about taking the young child with them then he thought he was going soft with him. He had been taken aboard his uncle’s cutter at the same age, time for Nicky to discover the joys of sailing. Yannick loosened the ropes to free his craft before he too jumped on board and Alex helped him push the boat away from the pier while Charley and Meredith were freeing the sails.  
Alex sat near Yannick and Nicky at the helm and watched his nephew and niece expertly manning the sails. Max was full of envy, his mouth wide open, wishing he could be so knowledgeable. Angie sat at the prow, happy to look ahead towards the open sea. They caught the wind and were soon out of the port and picking up speed on the open sea. Yannick suggested that for the first day they should not go too far out and remain within sight of the shore, they had left late in the day and night would be falling soon.  
He told Alex and Louis that he had bought the cutter on a whim only recently to replace the one that had belonged to the manor of old. The cutter, ‘La mouette’, had needed repairs and had been fairly cheap to buy, much cheaper than the cost of the repairs, he said cheerfully, but then he had promised a better boat to Charley and Meredith and he had liked the look of this one. He told Alex and Louis about his apprenticeship on the Normandy coast with his uncle and his old master, he had adored every moment spent on board his uncle’s cutter, a boat very like this one.   
‘After I was sent to college, at 12, I never went back to Térouanne until I was an adult. My father had taken Laure to Paris, the house was closed, there was nothing for me there. I wrote to Old Yannick from college and he answered until one day he no longer did. I found out years later that he had never returned from one of his sailing trips. I was sad, but I know that it’s how he wanted to end his life, in the arms of his great love, the sea.’  
He shouted to Charley that it was time to claw back to their berth, the light was diminishing, and he wanted to take no risk with the children on board.   
The cousins ran all the way back to the house, Max and Angie were in a hurry to tell their mother what a wonderful time they’d had. Nicky was running too, trying to catch up with the older children. The three men followed at a much more sedate pace. Dusk was now falling quickly, there were lights at the lodge windows,   
‘Ethan is home, apparently, don’t let us stop you if you wish to call in,’ remarked Alex. He caught the surprise and the gratefulness in his brother-in-law’s eyes and smiled, ‘Laurie will come around. It could take time, but she will, you’ll see,’   
‘I hope so, you have no idea how much I want her to be comfortable with me. I’d like to talk to Ethan, tell him I spoke to you; I don’t think he is going to like it; he had a rough time with his own family when he was 14.’  
‘It looks as if they have accepted him now though. I spoke to his father yesterday; you know he is very proud of his son, don’t you?’  
‘Yes. As long as he never finds out about us that is.’  
Alex had to agree. They parted company, Yannick made his way to the lodge, Alex and Louis to the manor.

The door of the lodge opened before he had time to knock. Ethan had watched him walk up with his family, then part with them to get to the lodge. The door was hardly locked behind them that Yannick was pushed against it and kissed passionately. He kissed Ethan back pulling him tightly against him, his fingers digging into his lover’s back, willing him to take him here and now. Ethan was weak tonight, he had tormented himself all night with the image of the way that Amber had linked her arm in Yannick’s and now that he was in his arms, he could not wait to claim him. He knew that Yannick was not in love with her, but he still hated most of all to see him being so familiar with her.   
He sensed his lover’s need for rough sex tonight. So be it, Ethan was also in the mood for rough play. He would give him what he wanted, he pulled his mouth away and turned Yannick around brutally against the door before pulling his pants down. He had guessed right, Yannick rewarded him with a sultry ‘yes’ and a groan. His first hard thrust up to the hilt won him yet another delighted ‘yes’, Yannick bent forward shamelessly, his hands flat on the door, ready and eager to receive more. And more he got. Ethan pulled all the way out and rammed back in deeply, time and time again, his hands maintaining his lover’s hips firmly. It was far too intense to last long, Yannick came first, his legs nearly giving up, he managed to stifle his cry, Ethan bit his lover’s coat collar to muffle his own when he came undone inside him. His arms then went around the slender man’s chest, holding him tight against him, his lips near his ear, murmuring words of love to him. They remained in this tight embrace for long minutes, slowly coming back to reality before cleaning themselves and readjusting their clothing before making their way to the couch in front of the fireplace.   
Yannick took his coat off and sat down near Ethan, he took one of his hands and brought it to his lips to kiss, ‘thank you, I so needed this,’ their eyes met, Ethan read, ‘about time,’ in them too. He kissed his lips tenderly, he wanted to ask him if he had hurt him but thought better of it and kept silent.   
When they parted Yannick recounted the conversation he’d had with his family in the morning. He read in Ethan’s narrowed eyes that he did not like it. He was not interrupted, and he spoke his piece to the end. After a few minutes of silence, Ethan sighed deeply, what could he say, after all, it concerned Yannick and his relationship with his family. He envied him to be able to talk to them, he knew that he could never do this with his own folks.   
He had watched his lover walk up the terraces, talking to both Louis and Alex, his revelation did not seem to have affected the way they interacted with him and he trusted them not to speak of it. He had sensed Yannick’s uneasiness when he had started to tell him, he was tensed and worried about his reaction. Ethan did not talk, he kissed him again instead, a long sweet kiss meant to reassure him, in the same way, that he had after Yannick had told him who he was. He felt him relax in his arms, remaining there after their kiss had broken.   
‘I love you and I need you so much,’ was all Yannick could say and Ethan did not need to hear any more to be happy.   
‘Can you come tonight? It’s been so long since we spent a night together, I’ve missed waking up feeling you warm beside me in bed.’  
Yannick laughed. ‘You make it sounds as if it was weeks ago! I was here the night before last, remember?’  
‘How could I forget! Sorry. I am selfish, I admit it, I resent sharing you with your friends and family, I know I shouldn’t,’ he frowned before adding lamely, ‘now that was a foolish thing to say, I have you all year round, I should be able to let them have you for a few weeks without being jealous of the time you are giving to them.’  
Yannick watched him suspiciously, ‘them? Or Amber? Do you still need reassuring about her?’ He sighed, ‘my sister thought she was my mistress, it’s what prompted the questions and me telling her about you. Amber is very tactile, isn’t she? I swear to you that you are the only one I do lie with, the only one I want to lie with. Besides you saw how concerned she is for Richard, she loves him.’  
Ethan had blushed slightly at his words. ‘I am a fool, I know. I love you so much.’  
Yannick shook his head, looking at him with a look that was both amused and fondly exasperated. He took Ethan’s face between his hands and gave him a passionate kiss that took the other man’s breath away.  
They parted quickly, before they got carried away again, Yannick had to get home for dinner. He promised Ethan that he would spend the night with him at the lodge.

The children made sure that dinner was lively that night. Even Angie who had not been too sure about the outing in the first place was enthusiastic. They begged Yannick to renew the adventure and he promised that if the weather was fine one morning they would go out on the boat for the day. Anna and Laure were convinced that they should join them, only Miss Leary declined, she suffered from bad seasickness and dreaded boat trips.   
After the children went off to bed, the adults shared a quiet drink in the drawing-room. The new year was only 3 days away and then the Londoners would go home the following week, just after Twelves’ Night. Yannick hoped that the weather would allow him to fulfill his promise of a day cruise. It was an evening for small talk, Laure was rather quiet, keeping her thoughts for herself and Yannick was pained by it. Nevertheless, he did not regret telling them about Ethan. They finished their drinks and Anna gave the signal for bedtime. She was usually the one getting tired first. Louis accompanied his mother to her room, carrying the candles for her. Alex and Anne-Laure followed them. Yannick did not. He had secured the fire in the drawing-room and put out the candles as always, but he did not make his way upstairs. From the landing, Anne-Laure saw him pick up his coat in the hall and walk towards the kitchen. Their eyes met for a few seconds before he disappeared through the door.  
They saw each other again at breakfast. Yannick had walked in the dining room still wearing the clothes he had on the previous evening, he had not shaved, Ethan and he had woken up late and he had not had time to take a bath. He greeted everyone and served himself then he told them that he had invited Ethan to dine on New Year’s Eve. His words received no comment, he was not surprised, it was his way of reminding them that he was after all master in his own house.  
He did not have any opportunity to further talk all day. Jonathan had come to him with some problems to sort out on the farms and he had to go out with him for most of the day. He came home very late, tired, and irritable because the problem had not been resolved entirely to his satisfaction. Anne-Laure understood from the way Charley and Meredith were behaving at the table that it was better not to engage their father in a controversial conversation. He cut the evening short, choosing to have an early night.

The next day, he was up early and in a much better mood due to the sun which had decided to come out. He immediately gave orders in the kitchen for a pack lunch to be prepared and announced at breakfast that today was the ideal day for sailing along the coast and see the seals. Nicky started to clap happily, the older children’s faces lit up with smiles and the adults could only approve Yannick’s proposal.   
The day was a great success, the seals obliged them and let themselves be admired by children and adults alike, the sea was gentle enough not to cause discomfort to Anna who had been a little bit worried about sailing on such a small boat at sea. Yannick abandoned the helm to Alex for most of the day and his brother-in-law’s enjoyment was evident. Louis was enjoying himself sitting down and admiring the view of the coast. Meredith had taken his sketchbook and Charley had teased him that he was a poor sailor indeed if he could abandon his post so readily if he found something else to do. Yannick left her in charge even although he and Alex were watching carefully the way she handled the boat. Max was a good second, he had found that after all, some girls could be just as good a friend than boys, something he would never admit to his London friends. The packed lunch was thoroughly appreciated by all, it was simple, bread, cheese, cold meat, fruit and wine. They ate with their fingers, loving every bite. Anne-Laure and Anna kept a close watch on the wine only allowing one glass each to the older children, Louis who had a nice voice started to sing sea shanties, they all joined in, even Nicky had a go at repeating some of the words.   
By the time they landed and walked up the house late afternoon, they were tired out and happier than they had been for a long time. Dinner was quiet, and they retired early. Yannick made his way to the lodge.

It felt good spending this last but one night of the year in the arms of Ethan. They had talked first, sitting comfortably close to each other on the sofa, each telling the other about his day, recalling the little joys as well as the frustrations as was now their habit to do so before moving to the bedroom. Ethan had taken his time with him tonight, with teases and kisses that had nearly driven Yannick mad with desperation. After love, they had fallen asleep instantly still close in each other’s arms.   
Mrs. Atkins woke them up when she opened the back door and started making up the fires downstairs. They waited for her to depart, then they came down, and had coffee before Yannick went home. Tonight, Ethan would eat at the manor at Yannick’s side with his family knowing that they were lovers, then they would greet the new year together. Yannick had not broached the subject with Anne-Laure, he hoped for the best.   
The family met around the dining table for their last breakfast of the year 1817. On the boat, Yannick had spoken to Alex and Louis about the problem at the farm which had been raised by Jonathan and was not yet resolved. He had toured the farms with Jonathan who had wished to show him how matters stood. Jonathan had wanted to demonstrate his point by comparing the 4 farms of the estate. Top Tree Farm was not yielding nearly as much as it should, and the tenant farmer resisted any suggestions brought to him to change his way of doing things. One of the alternatives was terminating his lease, something Yannick was not happy about. Jonathan, to avoid turning the family out of their home had approached the man’s elder son who was open to a different way of working the land, the problem was what to do with the father who was known to be a violent man at times. Would he accept receiving orders from his son? Yannick mentioned that he was going to spend the morning at the farm with Jonathan, confronting the farmer and giving him the choice of either leaving the farm with his family or accepting to let his son run the business in his place.   
Yannick could manage people, he was well used to command and to make far-reaching decisions, only he had done this in time of war and the lives directly concerned were his and his men’s, he never had to decide to throw a whole family out of their home because their farm was not profitable.  
Day to day running of business matters did not appeal to him. He checked the books of his different ventures regularly because it was expected of him, but he did not like it. He liked starting new ventures, developing new ideas, but leave the running of them to others. He admitted this to Alex after he had enquired about the problem at the farm. The conversation drifted to the need to make the land as profitable as possible. The farmer’s stubbornness annoyed him, why could the man not see that if his farm yielded more then, his family and not just the estate would be better off, why not try new ideas rather than sticking to old ways of doing things. Crop's rotation had proved their worth for many years now and after Jonathan had spoken to the man’s elder son, he had found him to be willing to go along with the change. Yannick needed the farm to be more profitable because he needed money to invest in other ventures. Anna who was an astute businesswoman, joined the conversation, she did not know about farming, she said, but she knew about other businesses.  
She told him that his wine importation and selling had caught her interest, good money could be made there she said if he wanted to make money. For example, why not sell in London? They had a large circle of friends they could get them to try his wines and brandy, and she could introduce him to the Worshipful Company of Vintners, the Guild of wine merchants. If they vouched for the quality of his products, then Yannick could approach wine shops and sell a great deal more than he did now.   
Alex took the opportunity to mention a thought he’d had, if Yannick was to acquire a merchant ship, he could export his china clay to the continent and come back laden with his wine and brandy. Anna intervened, she thought that the initial cost could be fairly quickly offset by the savings he would make not having to pay for transport. He could also transport goods for paying customers if he had spare space on board. She would help him find a trusted agent and manager in London if he wished, Alex said he’d help him through his contacts to find a good sturdy ship, it could sail out of Charlestown like most of the other clay carrying ships did. The conversation continued throughout breakfast and Yannick was thinking that their propositions were very tempting, also he loved the idea of collaboration between the three of them.   
Making more money would allow him to finance his real interests which was the welfare of children. He had done a lot to help on his estate by forbidding the employment of young children in his mines and in the fields and financing a school in the village. The fate of abandoned children upset him ever since he had discovered the stark reality of it at ‘the sanctuary’ in London. He wanted to found an orphanage where the children would be well cared for and educated. He had talked about this with people in Falmouth who were involved in charities and they had warned him that to do so would be to invite the poor to get rid of their children more easily, it had even been suggested that it would encourage promiscuity if women knew they could simply drop their unwanted babies at his orphanage. To this last argument, Yannick had answered that they already did drop their unwanted children, the problem was they were not always left somewhere where they had a good chance of surviving. Ethan and the vicar were supporting him although they did stress to him that he would never be able to save them all and that he would most likely attract a number of poor who would come to his estate just to get his charity. His fortune, they reminded him, would not be enough to feed all the poor in Cornwall and if he went bankrupt because he overspent, the people he tried to help would lose the most.

After breakfast he went to Top Tree farm with Jonathan, Meredith accompanied them. The young man needed to know that not all the duties of running an estate were pleasant. The tenant farmer received them in his kitchen, he was sullen and had obviously understood that if Mr. Kermor had taken the time to come to the farm then the matter was getting serious.   
Yannick spoke first, his tone was firm his eyes without a hint of friendliness; he reminded the man that he was only a tenant on this land and that he could be replaced anytime. Yannick could see the farmer’s wife standing behind the slightly opened door, she was holding her youngest child tightly against her and her face had a look of anguish. The couple had 6 children, the farmer’s eldest, Peter, was 22 and had been working the land since he was a child. He was the son born from a first marriage. Peter’s mother had died in childbirth when he was 2 years old, the baby had not survived either. The farmer’s second wife was younger than he and she had given him 5 children in the last 10 years.   
The man was taken aback by Yannick’s harsh words and cold expression. He had come to believe that Kermor was too soft to throw him out and that the threats were the steward’s way of imposing his authority and nothing else. Since the estate had been ruled from afar by the lawyer and by Jonathan’s father, he had been free to do as he pleased and had not taken well to Jonathan, who was more or less his son’s age, telling him what to do.   
The new master had the reputation of a man who cared for children and the poor as well as knowing nothing about farming, therefore such a man would not throw his family out, he thought, and he could continue to do as he pleased despite Jonathan’s angry threats. Today though, he was hearing those same threats from the master himself in a tone which contradicted his belief that the man was a soft touch.   
Enough was enough, he said, he was either accepting to let Jonathan tell him how to change his way of working as from now, or he was given one month to leave the farm with his family and another tenant would take his place. Kermor reminded him that the last 2 years had been bad and that he would have difficulties finding work elsewhere. His wife and family could well end up at the poor house.   
Yannick remained stern and cold, he avoided looking at the woman whose face was ashen and wet with tears; he knew that he was acting for the best, he could not let Jonathan’s authority be undermined any longer by this man. He did not add any more, he took his leave, leaving Jonathan behind to explain the details of the changes he wanted to see on the farm. Yannick had not mentioned Jonathan’s suggestion of leaving the eldest son run it, he wanted his steward to propose it, offer an alternative as it may.  
Meredith was quiet on the ride back to the manor. He had disliked the meeting, disliked the need to be hard with this man.

‘What if he refuses?’ He said finally, ‘are you really going to throw him out of his farm?’  
Yannick looked at his son. ‘What would you do?’ He asked,  
‘I don’t think I could do it.’  
‘In that case, you must never threaten to take such an action. You will always find people trying to go against your wishes. I advise you to think carefully before taking a decision, ask advice from those who know, get different opinions, and do not close your mind to new ideas. But once you have chosen, if the business is yours or in this case the land, you must make sure you are obeyed. And if you issue a threat you must carry it out. Does this answer your question?’  
Meredith sighed. ‘It does, thank you. I hope he relents.’  
‘So, do I, believe me.’

They were soon back at the manor. Meredith had not mentioned the meeting anymore, Yannick hoped that Jonathan was up to the task of convincing the farmer, for his part he had done his best, he hoped with all his heart that he would not see the man and his wife at the poor house in the future.  
The afternoon passed quietly, and it was soon time for the last dinner of the year. Yannick welcomed Ethan who greeted the company a little shyly. He was uncomfortable; he had spent his whole life guarding his secret and there he was, standing with people who knew how intimate he was with Yannick.   
The awkward moment of silence was quickly broken by the children. Charley and Meredith gave him a bright smile and Nicky claimed a kiss. Ethan picked him up and obliged, then he let him run off and join his siblings who were admiring the dinner table decoration. A footman brought drinks to the adults, Ethan commented on the progress the boy had achieved since he had first seen him, Yannick asked about the health of the children at the poor house, they had thoroughly enjoyed the boxing day celebrations, there were 3 orphans residing there, and they had received a Christmas gift for the first time in their lives. Ethan was satisfied with their health, but he worried that the number of orphans would increase. The worst of winter was to come, some families were struggling with very little food and despite his care for the poor, he feared the unavoidable death toll from winter diseases.

‘Why should it be unavoidable, though? We need to organise more food distribution, order coal for heating the cottages. No one should perish of hunger or cold on the estate.’   
Anne-Laure joined in the conversation, she talked of her charity work in London, she organised sales of goods, distribution to the poor at harvest festival as well as giving a generous financial contribution to the poor house. She had visited a workhouse and had been horrified by the living conditions. There was little wonder that unrest sparkled in the country she said, the poor had no hope and with little to lose they were getting reckless. She recalled her own terrifying experience in Paris during the revolution. She confided that she was worried that too much hardship could topple the society here as it had done so in France.   
The conversation changed upon the arrival of Loïk, Simona, and Miss Leary. Yannick was really pleased that his oldest friend and his wife had agreed to join the company tonight. They had made themselves scarce since Yannick’s family had arrived. Glasses were refilled, and the company settled down for the last meal of the year. The conversation was easy, thanks to the good wine, everyone talked happily together, the children joining in. Nicky ate with application, as usual, supervised by Meredith who made sure he tried a little bit of most things on the table. Yannick often looked at his little son with amusement, he was so solemn while he ate, he treated his food very seriously, one could say respectfully. He only ever accepted a small amount on his plate at a time but never left any of it uneaten.  
Ethan felt quickly at ease, even with Anne-Laure. They conversed about children’s health and the evil of drink among the poor. She also inquired about his family and how they were spending the last night of the year. The pub will be open said Ethan, he hoped that it would not be disturbed by fights tonight. The meal lasted most of the night, the cook had surpassed herself and the company only parted in the early hours of dawn.   
Yannick had been told of the superstition which said that if the first person who passed one’s threshold was a tall dark man the household would have luck that year. On this first of January 1818, Ethan’s would be the first threshold he would cross.

The next few days passed all too quickly; Twelves’ night celebrations were the happiest that Yannick and his family had known since arriving at the manor. Ethan joined them again, Max and Angie knew loads of games to play and the old house remained lit up and noisy with singing, music playing and laughter until the early hours of the next day.   
Before the Londoners made their way back to the capital, they had used their last days together to define a plan to develop Yannick’s wine business. He offered Anna a share in the adventure, he did not ask her for money to invest, he had no immediate need for it, he asked for her business intelligence and trade know-how and she was more than happy to accept taking care of the distribution side of the business. Alex was also going to work with his brother-in-law, he was going to look for a good sturdy ship to buy and then recruit a crew to transform the ideas of transporting Yannick’s clay and returning with the wine into a concrete project.  
Louis was returning to Oxford; this year would see him take his final exams. When the time came to say good-bye, Anne-Laure had held her brother very tight and made him promise to visit very soon, ‘I shall miss you,’ she said, then added, ‘bring Ethan when you come.’ He returned her embrace, tears glistening in his eyes.   
They watched the coach leave, Nicky in Yannick’s arms, Meredith and Charley waving franticly until they lost sight of it.  
Yannick and Ethan attended Richard and Amber’s party in Falmouth. They enjoyed seeing their friends again. Thomas and Alicia were now part of the usual crowd. Yannick noticed that the Pascoes were absent this year. Mr. Pascoe’s health was not too good, Richard said. It was a most pleasant evening as usual. The lovers spent the night in Yannick’s flat. It was the first time that they did sleep together there. They returned to the manor on the next day, Ethan did not like to stay away from the village for too long. Yannick teased him and reminded him that they had managed without a doctor for years and years before he came along.

By the time January had ended, Yannick had had the pleasure to see the matter at the farm concluded happily. The farmer had agreed to let his son run the farm, he was, he said happy to just work the land without the worry of managing.   
This happy outcome was much dampened by Loïk and Simona’s wish to move to France. If he were honest with himself, Yannick had to admit that he was not really surprised by their decision. Loïk had never really felt comfortable in England and Yannick knew that his tasks at the manor did not interest him. Simona missed the sunshine and she wished to bring her children under a kinder climate, she also admitted wanting to establish her own household now.   
Yannick suggested to Loïk that with the development of the wine export from Mersac, he could be very useful there; a trusted man was going to be needed at the shipping side of the business. Loïk accepted, Mersac was in a lovely sunny part of France and he would be more than happy to continue working for Yannick and keep close contact. They agreed to wait to sail when the weather got better and also leave on Yannick’s ship, ‘Perseus’. Charley, with her passion for mythology, had chosen the name. It was a private wink to her old life on board her beloved ‘Danae’, to name her father’s new ship after Danae’s famous son.  
‘Perseus’ sailed in the spring on her first journey to Blaye, near Bordeaux, with Loïk, Simona, and the babies on board. The Mersac estate already had a warehouse in Blaye, but it was too small for their future venture so Loïk would look to rent bigger premises and establish the first French agency of Kermor & Durfield Shipping.   
Alex and Anne-Laure had made the trip to Charlestown to watch Perseus leave. She would return laden with wine and brandy and would dock in London, in Anna’s warehouses. The family business had started for real.   
Charley and Meredith were sad to see Loïk and Simona leave them, they had been a constant presence in their lives, and they had found it difficult to understand their choice. Yannick had tried to explain their need for a new life with their own family in a place they could call their own. At the end of his explanations, he doubted that they had fully comprehended and still felt a little bit betrayed.


	9. Sir Selwyn Delaney's trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sir Selwyn Delaney, an elderly gentleman from Bath, start a journey to India in search of his son. This journey will have consequences on Yannick and his family's future.

Sir Selwyn Delaney and his wife Martha were devoted Christians and they were proud that their only child, Niall, born in 1777, was as devoted to the Lord than they were. They started to have second thoughts when, in 1798, Niall, who had just married Jane Milne, daughter of the renowned Reverent Milne, told them of his intention to sail to India and bring the good word to the people there.   
Sir Selwyn had a bad feeling about the adventure, he saw the influence of Niall’s young wife, a passionate believer in bringing all heathens into the light. India was the other side of the world for one thing and for the other, the very powerful East India Company did not see with a benevolent eye the missionaries who interfered with natives and caused troubles which were always bad for trade.   
Unfortunately, Niall and Jane were convinced that God had called them to bring his word to India and they sailed despite Sir Selwyn’s warnings and undisguised anger. Sir Selwyn had lost his dear Martha a few years before his only son left England, Martha had been a soothing figure by his side. With the dear lady gone, there was nothing to stop the heated words exchanged between father and son who separated angry with each other.

Sir Selwyn had soon regretted the quarrel bitterly, unfortunately, he had no means to contact his son. He remained without any news for several years until one day in 1803 when he received a letter from Niall dated one year previously. Niall had just become a father himself, his son Jeremy was born on 26th of August 1802, and this blessing had reminded Niall of his own father. He was sorry for the dispute and hoped to hear from Sir Selwyn. Sir Selwyn was overjoyed. He wrote back immediately, words of love, congratulations, and forgiveness, then waited for more news. The letters took months to reach England, Sir Selwyn knew this, the continuing war with France did not help matters. In 1809 he received what turned out to be the last letter he would ever receive from his son. Subsequent months, years, passed without any more hoped-for-letters being delivered.   
Sir Selwyn wrote to his son diligently every 3 months, he also wrote to the East India Company, who knew nothing of his son, he enquired about the possibility of travelling there. He was strongly advised against such folly. The seas were unsafe at the best of time, it was worse because of the war, the English navy could not guarantee the safety of every ship against the dangers of French privateers or local pirates and the East India Company’s Naval Service could not either, despite their efficiency in protecting their own Company’s ships. So, Sir Selwyn stayed in England and prayed the same as Jane’s parents, the reverend Milne and his wife.   
When the war ended in 1814, Sir Selwyn made his mind up to travel to India. He was now 62 years old and he felt that he could not stand the idea of dying without knowing what had happened to his son, grandson, and daughter-in-law, so he made travel arrangements and left England’s shores for the first time in his life to pursue his quest. 

After months of sea travel, he landed in the East India trading post nearest to the place where his son was living. But nearest still meant hundreds of miles down the coast. He had a choice between uncertain land travel and uncertain sea travel. He chose the sea, even though he had enough of it, as he was made to understand that land travel was even more uncomfortable and dangerous than traveling by sea. It took weeks to organise, finding a ship which sailed where he wanted to go and accepted to take him. The journey was fraught, the pirates were making a comeback now that naval warships were not cruising so frequently along the coast.  
He did not reach his destination until the end of 1815; he disembarked, along with his valet and they made their way up through a fishing village towards the small building with a cross on top that he could see in the distance. The ship they had sailed on did not wait and would not come again for 3 months to pick them up from this nearly deserted place.  
As Sir Selwyn walked nearer and nearer the building he had identified as a church, he noticed a little house, tucked behind it. It was obvious that no-one lived there and had not for a long while. The house and the little church had obviously been abandoned a long time ago; Sir Selwyn opened the doors to find the rooms empty, with vegetation growing inside the church.   
The anguish that the elderly man had started to feel in his bones when he had first glimpsed at the house threatened to overwhelm him. He leaned on the door frame, tears running down his face. His dear Niall was no longer on this earth, he was sure of it, felt it in his bones.   
He eventually put himself together. He knew immediately what his next move was going to be: find out what had happened. Before going back to the village by the shore, he checked the house thoroughly, looking for clues as to what had happened. He found the house in order, cupboards were closed, there was cutlery and some pots and pans inside. In the bedroom, the wardrobe door was also closed and when opened he saw some neatly folded linen inside. The bed had been stripped down, there were no traces of foul play anywhere. It looked as if the family had departed of their own free will, maybe his fear had been premature after all, there was hope that they could be alive somewhere. 

The elderly man’s hopes were dashed soon after. After the two men had explored the house and the church, they went around the buildings and found a tombstone just behind the church. It was a simple slab bearing his son’s name, Niall Delaney, 1777 – 1807. Sir Selwyn had found his son’s last resting place. The year of death coincided with the date of the last letter he had received. There was only one tombstone, Niall’s wife and son were not buried there, hope of finding them alive was renewed, the old man knew that his next mission was to find them.  
A native woman approached the two Englishmen, she spoke a little English, asked if they were hungry, and guided them back to the little village. Other people looked after them there, bestowing kindness to him when they learnt that he was their beloved reverend’s father. They had been converted by Niall and their English was not bad, although it was difficult to understand.   
He gathered from them that Jane had decided to leave after Niall’s death. Sir Selwyn understood that his son had succumbed after falling and wounding his foot. The open wound had gone bad very quickly said the old woman who had looked after Niall. Jane had been devastated and had wanted to take young Jeremy away from here said the woman sadly. She had sailed on a boat which did coastal trade, bound for the East India Company’s nearest trading post, hoping to get a passage back to England.

Sir Selwyn could not find out any more, Jane and Jeremy had never returned to the village. The next three months were very frustrating for the elderly grieving man. He had to wait for a boat to call and had nothing much to do. He lived in his son’s house and spent most of his days praying in the little church for the safe return of Jane and Jeremy.   
At last, he was able to sail out for the trading post. He was back to the place where he had first landed in India. He was angry with himself for not thinking of enquiring about his family there when he’d first landed, he had been in such a hurry to reach the village where he thought Niall was living.   
He made a nuisance of himself with the administration to no avail, they had no trace of Jane and Jeremy making it to the trading post, so he asked them to enquire with the other posts, further away, that took time and unfortunately, the answers were all negative. It looked as if they had never landed in any one of them.   
Sir Selwyn knew that pirates roamed these seas, he had been warned in England and again in India. The small ship Jane had boarded would have been easy prey for pirates, Sir Selwyn was convinced that capture had been the likely fate of Jane’s ship. He had heard time and time again that pirates gave no quarters when they took a ship. Crews and passengers were usually killed.

A great sadness swept over the old man at the thought of his 5-year-old grandson’s unfair destiny. It shook his faith in God. How could God permit this? Niall had been doing God’s work, why end his life so young and the life of his sweet wife and innocent child so cruelly?   
Sir Selwyn decided that it was time to return to England. He would leave as soon as a ship bound for home was announced. In the mean-time he spent his evenings at the officer’s club. One evening he mentioned the pirates to an old captain who knew these waters well, he told him of his tragic loss and his disappointment that no-one seemed interested in bringing the villains to justice. He could not understand why with so many naval ships in the Indian ocean, pirates could not be caught.   
‘Oh, but they do get caught; unfortunately, there are continuously new ones coming into the trade. Some years ago, the French captured the biggest and most notorious band of pirates. They raided their island lair and put an end to their slave trafficking. The pirates were hanged, the slaves released. Later, pirates started the business again, of course, it’s difficult to catch them all.’  
‘What do you mean by slave trafficking? Where do they get slaves from?’  
‘From the ships they catch. Crews and passengers alike are sold in markets all over these islands. Even Europeans have been known to be bought, white women fetch a good price, especially if they’re blond, some rajahs are keen to have them in their hareem.’   
Sir Selwyn paled, ‘and children? European children? What would become of them?’   
‘I wouldn’t like to speculate on the fate of any child captured by these people, sir.’  
Sir Selwyn nodded. He did not want to think of it either. The thought that Jane and Jeremy could still be alive and in the hands of a cruel rajah somewhere made him feel ill. It also opened new search avenues. He told his valet on the next day that he needed to find out more.

He was not sure how to go about his search. The only further information he managed to gather from the officer, was that the French raid which had put an end to some of the pirate’s activities happened in 1808. The date gave him hope, what if Jane and Jeremy had been captured by this band and later released?   
The administrator, who was getting tired of the elderly man, suggested that he made the trip to the island of Kamorta. The rajah of Kamorta was a powerful man, he was the one who had convinced the French admiral to help him fight the pirates. Maybe he knew what had happened to the slaves who were found on the island or had already been sold before the French raid. Sir Selwyn immediately caught on this thin thread of hope.

It was a few weeks before he could get a passage to Kamorta, he hoped the rajah would be agreeable to his quest. Kamorta was now under English rule. Sir Selwyn required an audience with the ruler as soon as he arrived. He found accommodation and waited. The rajah was apparently in no hurry to receive him. He applied again after a few days, and again.   
He felt trapped on this island, the population was not Christian, and he was regarded with suspicion. His valet told him why: Kamorta had been Rear Admiral Mersac’s refuge for several years during the war and the French presence had been appreciated on the island especially after Mersac had put an end to the pirate’s activities and had given back the captured people to their family.   
Sir Selwyn was immediately interested. He realised that he could probably get the information he wanted another way. With the help of his valet, he found an interpreter who could help him approach the people who had been freed by Mersac. Luckily, Sir Selwyn spoke passably good French. He travelled to the north of the island, in a remote coastal village which had been the target of the pirates in the past. There he was able to talk to the men and women saved from the pirates. And what he learnt increased his hopes to find at least his grandson alive.   
One man, in particular, told him that at the pirate’s lair, the pirate chief kept a young European boy as a servant, he said. The man described the child as being about 5 or 6, fair-haired, and blue-eyed. Niall and Jane were both fair and the age of the boy was about right. On a negative note, though, the man said that there were no European women on the island. The man had been brought to the island waiting to be sent to market elsewhere when their numbers were sufficient to make a journey profitable. According to him, the child had been on the island for some time. The man did not know anymore, he did not know if the child had survived the French raid or not, after he had been rescued, he had been taken back to his home.   
Sir Selwyn and his valet talked to every one of the rescued people from the village, unfortunately, no further information was gathered concerning the child. Sir Selwyn travelled back to Kamorta’s main town more determined than ever to meet the rajah. He was convinced that if Mersac’s men had saved a European child or seen the body of one, this unusual information had been reported to the rajah on whose behalf Mersac had conducted his punitive expedition.

As soon as he arrived back, Sir Selwyn returned to the palace. This time he did not politely accept that he would be contacted if the rajah accepted to receive him. He insisted loudly with the guard who’d had to call one of the palace officers: he had waited enough, said Sir Selwyn, he wanted to go home, not make trouble, but he would not do so until the rajah received him and help him find his relatives. He promised to make a nuisance of himself, contact the English governor, tell the world about how badly he was been treated. Sir Selwyn did not think that his threats would be taken seriously, but he was a desperate man, he felt that an answer to his grandson’s disappearance was obtainable and he did not want to give in. The palace officer came back after one hour or so. The rajah, in his infinite goodness, would accept to hear his concern.   
He was introduced to a waiting room where he spent another 2 exasperating hours walking round and round. Then a man ushered him to the throne room, and he found himself facing an old man whose sumptuous clothes made of silk and his heavy jewelry could not hide the fact that he was in fact very sick. The rajah was sitting on his throne, propped up by many cushions, he prompted Sir Selwyn to approach nearer, his voice was weak, a whisper. He spoke English to the Englishman’s surprise.  
‘How can I help you with your relatives? The only Englishman I have seen on this island was the missionary who taught me your language 50 years ago. He is long dead now. His tomb is known by many here, you do not need my help to find it.’  
‘I am not related to this man, your highness, I am searching for my daughter-in-law and my grandson. I was told that Admiral Mersac may have found a European child when he raided the pirates island. I am hoping that if he did find such a child or heard of his demise on the pirates' island, he would have told you?’  
The rajah caressed his beard thoughtfully before he answered: ‘Yes there was a child, what makes you think he could be your grandson?’  
Sir Selwyn caught his breath, he related his quest to the old ruler, his hopes to find his family, how they had been dashed by the discovery of his only son’s tomb, and then of the new hope that maybe his grandson was alive.  
‘You have come a long way to find an answer to your question. I can tell you that no white woman was found on the island, alive or dead, so I cannot help you there. I do not know if the child Mersac found was or not your grandson, but I confirm that he did find a live child. I did not see him; I know that the child was a boy and that his hair was blond and his eyes blue. I heard that he could not speak. Mersac kept him in his apartments while on the island and he took him with him when he sailed away. I can’t tell you anymore. Please take your leave; I wish you good luck.’  
The palace officer approached a stunned Sir Selwyn and guided him through the palace to the exit. His mind was reeling with conflicted thoughts, Jeremy could be alive, that was wonderful news, the boy would now be 14 years old, the problem was that the only person who could help him further was Mersac. Sir Selwyn had read the newssheets like everyone else, Mersac was not a man he wished to approach.  
He had to get back to Europe as soon as he could. He knew he could not give up now, he would go and see Mersac and hope that the man had the final answer for him.  
Sir Selwyn arrived in Bordeaux in January 1818 after a long and tiring journey back from India. He had chosen to sail on a ship that would take him directly to France. He would not find Admiral Mersac in England he thought and find him he must for he could not possibly give up his search now.   
He was certain that the child Mersac had taken with him was his grandson. The dates, the description, and the place where the child had been found, all led to this conclusion. No other European child had been mentioned but this one. In London, before he had left, he had checked all ship's passengers lists, whether the ships were or not missing, with the clerks at Lloyds Insurance and at the East India Company and none had reported a family travelling from India with a boy of Jeremy’s age. No, Mersac was his only hope, he was going to have to meet this devil and hope for the best with the grace of God.   
In Paris, he met with the same unhelpfulness that awaited all those who wanted to know where to find the infamous Rear Admiral. He was told that they did not know and that was that. Sir Selwyn had not crossed half the world and back to be rebuked by a clerk, so he changed tack. All right, Mersac’s whereabouts were unknown, would they tell him instead of the whereabouts of his officers? After all, the child’s presence on board must have been known to everyone and he might be able to get an answer to his question that way around. The clerk obliged, more so after he was shown a few beautiful gold English sovereigns. One of Mersac’s officers, Paul Fonsac, was living in Paris, Sir Selwyn was given the man’s address.   
Sir Selwyn called that same afternoon. The lieutenant was living in a comfortable house and had been retired from the navy like most of the officers who had served under the Empire. He was in his forties and agreed to receive Sir Selwyn. He was loathed to talk about Mersac though, that much was apparent. He had been contacted before and had refused to talk about Danae’s cruise in India.   
‘I am not interested in the cruise; I am only interested in the boy that your Admiral took with him when he sailed away from Kamorta. Do you know what happened to him once Danae reached France?’  
Paul Fonsac looked surprised: ‘How do you know there was such a boy? This story was not told in the pamphlets, thank Goodness.’  
‘I have good reasons to believe that this boy is my grandson.’  
Paul nodded, ‘I see. Well, he was alive and well when we docked in 1814. Mersac took him with him to Paris, that’s the last time I saw him. Mersac was very fond of the child, he kept him in his quarters, brought him up. Find Mersac and you’ll find your grandson if he is your grandson.’  
Sir Selwyn asked Paul to relate how the boy had been found and he got quite a few more details about the rescue and the looks of the child. He also asked if Paul knew how he could go about finding Mersac. Paul was touched by the older man’s quest. He gave him Maxence Dujardin’s address.   
‘He was Danae’s captain, and close to the Admiral. If there’s one man who knows how to contact the Admiral, then it’s him.’  
Sir Selwyn thanked Paul sincerely and that same night he started his journey to the south of France to find Maxence Dujardin at his house in Nîmes. His faithful valet, Georges, was still with him of course. Over the months Sir Selwyn’s relationship with Georges had become like a friendship of sorts. Of course, Georges showed his master the respect and consideration he was due, but the two men were now talking more freely to each other.   
Georges therefore did not hesitate to tell Sir Selwyn about his misgivings concerning the outcome of the quest. The boy would now be a 15-year-old adolescent brought up by a most despicable character. Should not Sir Selwyn call it a day? What kind of young man was he going to find? Georges thought that far more heartaches were waiting for Sir Selwyn and he told him so.

Sir Selwyn’s trail of thoughts had taken him along the same path, and he told Georges. He had hoped that Mersac had employed the child on board, made a sailor out of him. To find out that he had brought him up by his side worried him no end. The stories spoke of orgies on board the ship with the Admiral a participant. How did a man who took part in such awful unnatural perversions bring up a young boy, furthermore, one of the stories had reported that Mersac had been his captain’s catamite in his youth… Sir Selwyn shivered at the thought.   
‘I will save him from evil,’ he said to Georges, ‘it’s God’s will, I am sure, to tear my grandson away from the devil’s influence and bring him back to the fold of God.’

Maxence received Sir Selwyn and listened to his tale attentively and worryingly too. This man he realised would stop at nothing to find his grandson and that promised heartache for his close friend. He was tempted to tell the Englishman that he had no way of contacting Yannick but suspected that for one thing, it would not stop him finding out somehow, not after the lengths the elderly man had gone to already to find so much about the child. And also, what right did he have to deny Meredith his family. Better to warn Yannick in advance of what was coming.   
So, he told Sir Selwyn that he sent letters to his Admiral via a lawyer. He offered to forward a letter to him but refused to tell the man the lawyer’s name. He could not, he said, breach the trust his Admiral had given him. Sir Selwyn accepted. He had liked Maxence immediately, sensing the man’s integrity and that he would not play with him.  
Sir Selwyn would write a letter addressed to the Admiral and Maxence would forward it. Maxence surprised sir Selwyn when he told him that he could write in English if he wished. Mersac was perfectly bilingual, he said, his mother was English. He also assured sir Selwyn that Danae had never been the theatre of the unsavoury stories reported in the news sheets.

‘Your grandson, if he is your grandson, has been calling my friend ‘Papa’ for the last 10 years,’ he said, ‘Yannick has adopted him officially. A lot of lies have been written about his behaviour, keep this in mind when you meet him, please.’  
‘You believe that he will answer my letter then?’  
‘I do. He would not deny Meredith a chance to know his family. The lad had a bad time with the pirates, he has suffered nightmares since his rescue, I recall him screaming in his sleep on board. It will not be easy for either of you.’  
‘Meredith,’ said sir Selwyn, ‘it’s an English name. Who gave it to him?’  
‘I believe it was Charley who did,’ answered Maxence who added when he saw the old man’s quizzical look, ‘she is Mersac’s young daughter. He brought both children up together on board.’  
Sir Selwyn opened his mouth in stupefaction. It took him a few minutes to recover.  
‘And how old is Charley?’  
‘in her thirteenth year, Meredith would be 15 or 16?’  
’He will be 16 on August 26th this year.’  
Maxence nodded.   
‘Right, well, bring me your letter later on and I promise I’ll send it. Don’t expect too quick an answer though, I don’t know where he lives.’  
Sir Selwyn thanked Maxence, he returned to his hotel to write his letter, well-aware of the vital need for him to write the exact words which would make Mersac answer and change his life.


	10. 1818 Roots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meredith hopes to discover his roots at last.

The parcel of letters from Maître Dubois contained a letter from Maxence, which Yannick was very pleased to see. His friend’s letter was unusually thick. It was folded and sealed as usual, but what was unusual was the presence of another letter, also folded and sealed. Yannick hesitated. He was curious and wanted to tear open the mysterious letter first and thought otherwise. Maxence must have had a good reason to act this way so he started to read his friend’s words first.   
He had been standing up near the windows looking out to the terraces and their rose bushes and found suddenly that he needed to sit down as he read on. He recognised the same sinking feeling in his stomach that he had experienced after reading Julia’s letter a few months ago. Maxence was warning him about the probable content of Sir Selwyn’s letter. He was explaining that there were of course no certainty that the boy the Englishman was looking for was Meredith, nonetheless, there was a strong chance that he could be.   
Yannick put the letter down and got himself a drink before opening Sir Selwyn’s letter. Sir Selwyn described how his son had disappeared and then his own long trip to India to find him. He talked about the little clues he had found which led him to believe that the child Yannick had found could be his surviving grandson. There were too many coincidences for Yannick to brush away the assumptions.   
He remained in the drawing room facing the window for a long time, his eyes unseeing the gardens and the sea in the background. He knew immediately what the right thing to do was, but he was loathed to do it. He felt like burning the two letters, pretend he had never seen them, never talk about them to anyone. He even thought about leaving Cornwall, taking the children far, far away, somewhere where no one could ever find them and separate him from them.  
Then he laughed bitterly. His children were growing up, Meredith was 15 or16, he would leave him soon enough. Moreover, he had not forgotten the adolescent interests in Hadrian’s family history. Yannick was persuaded that he had thrown himself in that quest to satisfy a need he had. He knew that Meredith suffered of not knowing where he came from, only remembering his mother’s screams when they had been separated.

Of course, he could not deny Meredith this chance of finding out who he was any more than he had not been able to deny Charley access to her mother.   
He walked out quickly, before he changed his mind, and walked to the room where Meredith and Charley were studying with Miss Leary. He apologised for the disruption and asked Meredith to come and join him in his study.  
The look on Meredith’s face was one of puzzlement and vague worry. He could not work out what he had done to warrant an interruption of his lessons in the middle of the day. On the landing, Yannick explained:  
‘I have received some letters that you need to read. I think it’s better if you read them on your own and think about them, one in particular. Take the time you need, you will find me in the drawing room if you need me. As you know, I will always stand by you.’  
Meredith nodded and walked to the study. Yannick handed him Maxence’s letter, advising him to read it first for it made sense of the second one. He then smiled reassuringly at him and withdrew to the drawing room next door.

At the end of the lessons, Charley and Miss Leary entered the drawing room for their afternoon tea. They found Yannick reading a story to Nicky.  
Charley exclaimed, ‘Meredith is not with you?’  
‘No, love. He is reading letters that concern him. He will join us when he is ready.’  
‘He is not in trouble, is he?’   
‘No, of course not. Just some decisions he has to make. A man has written saying that Meredith might be his grandson. There is a strong possibility that it’s true and so Meredith has to tell me what he wishes to do about it.’  
Charley’s eyes widened.   
‘But we are his family. Are we not?’  
‘His adopted family, remember. You know who your parents are, Meredith does not, and he might want to find out. You should not worry though; I am sure that he will always be part of our lives in the future.’  
‘Of course, I will, Charley; you will always be my annoying little sister, trust me!’ Said Meredith who had entered the room quietly. He went to sit down near Yannick and helped himself to a cup of tea.   
‘I need to meet Sir Selwyn, as you have already guessed, I presume,’ he said to his father, ‘I have thought about it, I don’t want you to compromise your safety here either. You need to let me go on my own.’  
Yannick frowned, ‘I am not sure…,’he started.  
‘Please, Papa, I need to do this alone for one thing, and for another, as I said, I don’t want him to be able to find you.’  
‘Meredith, you are only 15, I can’t let you go to Bath on your own and stay with a man we know very little about.’  
Miss Leary intervened. ‘What about Meredith travelling with a valet? He is old enough to justify his own servant by now, after all, Charley has her own maid.’  
‘How about Aidan? He does not want to remain a footman all his life, he wants to become a valet and he is Ethan’s nephew. You said yourself that he was a serious and trustworthy young man.’

Aidan was the eldest son of Samuel, Ethan’s brother, he was 23 years old and a serious young man. Yannick had hesitated before continuing his employment at the manor after he had started his relationship with Ethan, he had worried that Aidan could hear gossips, he had not done this when he had realised that it would have been terribly unfair on the young man and maybe have provoked the gossips he wanted to avoid. He had been reminded also that Jonathan was at the manor every day and could also suspect his master’s secret love story. Jonathan was now married to Clowance who was the daughter of Ethan’s sister, Daisy, and had been employed as a maid at the manor well before Ethan had entered Yannick’s life, just like Aidan had been. Clowance was no longer working at the manor now, but she visited her often.   
He interviewed Aidan who was overjoyed at the idea of becoming Meredith’s valet. He reluctantly agreed to let Meredith and Aidan leave the following week. The two young men would travel by stagecoach, Yannick thought it was safer to do so rather than with the phaeton. He would give Meredith money as well as a letter of change to use if needed in Bath.   
He knew that Meredith and Aidan were excited about the trip. Neither had travelled this far on their own. Yannick kept reminding himself that at Meredith’s age he had found himself alone and without money in Brest after being dismissed from college, Meredith trip to Bath was nothing in comparison. He needed to open his anxious heart to Ethan as usual.

Ethan was such a good listener; Yannick could not believe how lucky he was to be loved by this sweet and caring man. He called late afternoon on the day he received the letter after he had spoken to Meredith and heard his wish to visit Bath alone. Ethan had been on his own, his last patient had left, Yannick put his arms around his neck and sought his lips, hungry for a kiss before he spoke. Ethan answered of course and understood that Yannick needed more than a kiss. They never made love during the day, a kiss was also very unusual, they only ever did kiss when absolutely certain that no one could see them.   
Yannick was a little frustrated by Ethan’s cautiousness and had several times reminded him of their first time on the beach. Ethan had thrown caution to the wind that morning. Ethan’s explanations were that he had not been able to resist and that making love to Yannick had been worth hanging for that morning. Now of course, even if Yannick was still worth hanging for, he preferred to live a very long life loving him.   
That afternoon though, Ethan sensed that he needed to give his lover more than a kiss. He disentangled himself gently and guiding him by the elbow he led him up the stairs to his bedroom. There, behind a locked door, he undressed Yannick and laid him on his bed, never stopping the kisses as he did so. They did not speak, that would come later after their bodies had their fill of loving.

Ethan understood Yannick’s misgivings about letting Meredith go and meet his grandfather on his own. He guessed that deep down Yannick was afraid of losing Meredith to his blood family. He tried to reassure him, Meredith loved him, Charley, and Nicky deeply, he would never forget that, nor would he ever forget that he owed his life to Yannick. He was no longer a child; he could not be manipulated to put the last 10 years of his life aside. Besides, Yannick probably had nothing to fear, he had given Ethan the letter to read, and Ethan thought that the man seemed a decent sort.   
Yannick felt a lot better when he joined the family at dinner after his talk to Ethan. The next day he started to make the arrangements for the journey. The young men caught the stagecoach at the Posting house situated on the top road to Falmouth. Yannick had bought them inside seats, so they should travel comfortably. They would have to change coach in Exeter to reach Bath. Once in Bath, they would have to find accommodation before setting out to meet Sir Selwyn.  
Meredith was travelling under the name of Courcelles, Yannick’s family name. Aidan had been surprised to find out that Meredith preferred not to use the name of Kermor, but he had not asked any questions. John, Yannick’s valet, had given the young man a few lessons of how a good valet should behave with his master and one of them was not to ask questions. Aidan was so keen on keeping his job that he would never pry into the family’s mysteries.


	11. Bath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meredith arrives in Bath to meet his family, and all is not well. For the first time in his life, he has to make his own decision.

It took the travellers 4 days to reach Bath. They arrived in the evening and spent their first night at the Posting house. A fellow traveller had recommended 3 addresses where they could find accommodation and they visited the next day. They soon found one which was suitable, it was a 2-rooms flat on the first floor of a fashionable house with a view over a park. Aidan busied himself unpacking clothes and making the beds while Meredith had a walk to accustom himself to his new surroundings. He also needed to find out how to get to Sir Selwyn’s address. It was the very first time in his young life that he was not dependant on his father or another adult in a town he did not know.

Aidan was with him of course, but if anything, Aidan was rather dependant on him because he had never travelled further than St Austell before. He had watched in awe the activity in the streets and the tall buildings of Bath through the coach windows. John had told him how to behave in Posting houses, looking after their bags, giving orders to get rooms and food, how to behave to at least give the impression of knowing what he was doing during the journey. At least Meredith had travelled before, he had spent several weeks in London, had travelled long distances by coach, and spent nights in posting houses, he had therefore picked up tips of what to do and what not to do to avoid getting robbed or taken advantage of as some innocent provincials were sometimes.  
Meredith returned to their lodgings to take Aidan out for a meal. The two young men were ravenous and were more than ready for a substantial hearty dinner. Meredith had seen a restaurant near their rooms and had liked the look as well as the smells coming out of the door, so they settled down and enjoyed their food. Meredith enquired about the whereabouts of the Royal Crescent where Sir Selwyn lived in and the servant was able to give him directions. It was within easy walking distance of their lodgings and Meredith decided to go later on the next day. He wanted Aidan and him to familiarise themselves with the town first; he intended to present himself to Sir Selwyn on his own and hoped that Aidan would not get lost in Bath while he was away.

Meredith had a butterfly in his stomach when he knocked on Sir Selwyn’s door. He was introduced in the house by an elderly butler who took his card and asked him to wait and see if Sir Selwyn would speak to him. He did not notice that the butler’s eyes had widened when he had looked at him, before taking his card.  
He waited less than one minute before the parlour door opened and an elderly gentleman appeared, looking flustered, and holding his card in his trembling right hand. The gentleman just stood there for a minute looking at Meredith, obviously overwhelmed. He took Meredith’s hands in his own and held them tightly, shaking his head with a wondrous look on his face.  
‘You are so like my dear Niall, I wouldn’t have believed it if you were not facing me now,’ he said, then he took his fob watch out, opened it, and offered it to Meredith. Meredith looked at the miniature portrait of a young man with fair hair and blue eyes who looked uncannily like himself.  
‘There can be no doubt whatsoever that you are my grandson. Come in, please, I’ll show you drawings of yourself that your father sent me from India.’ He ushered a slightly stunned Meredith to the parlour. The young man had not yet spoken a word, but like the elderly man, he no longer had any doubt either that he had found his true family at last.

Time passed very quickly, Sir Selwyn showed Meredith a portrait of his mother Jane that had been painted by his father and the several drawings of Meredith that he had sent his father from India to picture the little boy as he grew up. The last one showed Meredith at 5, Niall had died only a few days after he had drawn it and sent the letter to his father.  
‘Was my father an artist then?’   
‘Well his calling was to convert natives to the true faith, of course, Jane and he were devoted Christians, but he liked to draw and paint also and had a real talent as you can see.’  
‘I love art,’ said Meredith, ‘I do not yet know what profession I will choose in the future.’  
‘Your father always knew that he wanted to enter the orders. He decided to become a missionary after he met and married your mother. They were very young; I was not overjoyed, I must admit, at the idea of them going away so far. Still, no point in stirring old wounds is there, you are here and it’s all that matters now. You can stay in your father’s room and tomorrow I will see my solicitor have you officially recognised as my grandson and heir.’  
Meredith was embarrassed, ‘I am sorry sir, but I have taken accommodation in town and I wish to stay there for the time being. I need some time alone to think about all this, it’s a lot to take on.’  
‘You came on your own to Bath?’  
‘No, I have a valet with me, he is at the flat. Papa did not think it was safe for me to travel on my own so far.’

It was the first time he had mentioned Yannick; Sir Selwyn had asked questions about his studies and what he liked doing, but he had not asked anything about the man who had saved his grandson’s life. Meredith had always known that it was going to be a touchy subject, Yannick’s reputation was probably the reason for it, maybe the elderly man was afraid of what he might discover, and he preferred not to know. Meredith did not like it. He wanted Sir Selwyn in his life now, but not at the price of losing Yannick. He had told Sir Selwyn straight away that he wished to be called Meredith and Sir Selwyn had agreed, he understood that the young man could not just suddenly change his name.  
Sir Selwyn was obviously disappointed that Meredith was not going to be sleeping under his roof. The young man promised to return every day and spend the whole day with him, he was not in any hurry to rush back home, he said. It was his way to make it clear to his grandfather that he would return to his adoptive father to live.   
Sir Selwyn accepted. On the next day as promised, he took Meredith to his solicitor and had his will changed to make him the sole beneficiary of his title and his fortune. Meredith discovered that his grandfather was a wealthy man, with a country house and some land, as well as the house in Bath which he had realised on getting there, was in a prestigious location.

Meredith was invited to meet the other members of his family, that was Sir Selwyn’s younger brother, who had a son, married with 2 sons and 1 daughter. The visit was a strain on everyone, the uncle was cold and his children who were a little bit younger than Meredith made unpleasant remarks about his education. Meredith put up with them because he did not want to upset his grandfather.   
As soon as they left the house, Sir Selwyn explained.   
‘They thought they’d inherit my fortune you see. Your return is bad news for them. My brother tried very hard to discourage me in my search for Niall. I would also like to take you to meet your mother’s family, only they live out of town at about half a day’s ride from here so if you wish to go, I’m afraid you will need to stay overnight for you will not be able to make it there and back in one day.’  
Meredith had by now spent one week with his grandfather. He felt at ease with him, he said:  
‘I will tell my valet not to expect me back for how long?’  
‘How about 3 days?’  
‘3 days is fine.’  
Meredith warned Aidan on the next day that he was going to be away for 3 days, he also wrote a letter to Yannick to keep him informed. He had written nearly every day since he arrived in Bath, but he needed to tell him not to worry if he did not receive another letter for a week or so, explaining that he was visiting his mother’s family in the country. 

Sir Selwyn had his own carriage and they enjoyed a pleasant ride in the countryside. They arrived in time for dinner. The house was an old parsonage set on its own in a field. The family consisted of the father, Rev. Milne, his wife as well as their son and his large family of 6 children.   
They were not any more welcoming than his uncle’s family had been. They all looked severe, dressed in black or very dark colours, even the children. Meredith thought that maybe they were mourning. He dared not ask, there had been an awkward incident when they had arrived after Sir Selwyn had told Rev. Milne that their grandson wished to be called Meredith, upon which Rev. Milne had answered sharply that the boy had been christened Jeremy in the eyes of God and that was how he would be called in his house.

The family sat down around the table for dinner. Graces were spoken by the head of the family. Sir Selwyn also said graces at his house, a few words of thanks before a meal, something Meredith had not been accustomed to at home, in this house, it was a little longer and the family looked very solemn. The food was plain and not plentiful, and Meredith wondered if money was scarce in the household. Silence reigned. Since he had arrived Meredith had not heard a single word spoken by any of the children, even by the youngest who could not have been much over 8 years old. He felt uncomfortable throughout the meal and was still hungry when it was over.   
The males of the family repaired to the parlour, grandfather Milne sat in an armchair and opened a bible. The rest of the evening was spent with him reading aloud from the book and commenting on the words. At exactly 10 o’clock, he got up and everyone followed him up to their beds.  
Meredith had been given a small room at the top of the house. At least he was not sharing with one of his cousins, he did not take to any of them. The bed was narrow and hard, there was only one blanket, he wondered how they managed in the depth of winter. The fire was not lit of course. He sighed thinking that it was probably going to be a very long 3 days. At least he had his sketchbook with him, he would find a way to go out to the countryside and draw if the atmosphere got too hard for him to put up with.

He was awakened very early the next morning and was told to come down immediately. It was only 6 o’clock, they were waiting for him around the table, graces were spoken again, and porridge was served with a clear cup of tea. After breakfast, they all left the house to go to church. After they returned, Meredith approached his grandmama in the hope of talking to her about his mother, he had so many questions he wanted to ask, about her youth, what she liked, what she looked like, for after all said and done this was why he was here. All he got out of the old woman was that his mother was a good Christian devotee.

It was a dreadful day. The reverend went to his study to work but before, he set the children, Meredith included, some bible study for them all. Girls and boys were in separate rooms, talking was forbidden, they had to read and learn the passages he set them by heart and answer questions. After lunch, he looked at their work and corrected each essay aloud. He was unhappy with Meredith’s work, furthermore, the young man had not learnt the set-piece he had been given by heart. Meredith was annoyed, he could not see the sense in doing that, it would bring nothing to him, and he told the Reverend. His cousins looked at him in horror. The Reverend got angry, he told Meredith that he would make him bend and when the young man replied that he would never manage it, the Reverend slapped Meredith’s face hard, once on each cheek, leaving him too stunned to react. Then the Reverend reminded everyone of the need to get ready to go to church for evening service.  
Meredith tugged along unhappily, his cheeks were red and painful, and he was unable to escape as the whole family was going. On the way, Meredith hoped to get to talk to Sir Selwyn, the elderly man had treated him well and with affection this past week, he was therefore expecting to be able to express himself freely to him. He could not; as soon as they were out of the house, Meredith was immediately surrounded by his grandmother and his aunt, one on each side, with the children walking in front and behind him as well, while the Reverend was walking ahead with Sir Selwyn.

As soon as they returned to the parsonage after service, a seething Meredith was sent to his bedroom without supper in punishment for his earlier attitude. When he got to his bedroom, he realised that his sketchbook and pencils had disappeared. He managed to control his anger, he was powerless in this hostile house, making a scene would not help him. He would try again to talk to Sir Selwyn instead.  
The next morning the same routine repeated itself; Meredith managed to talk to Sir Selwyn whom he had hardly seen since the day they had arrived. He told him that he wished to go back to Bath this very day. He could not remain in this house any longer; he told him his sketchbook had been taken from him. Unfortunately, Sir Selwyn did not agree with him. He had to stay, he said, it was for his own good, his religious education needed to be strengthened, it had obviously been badly neglected, and his soul was in danger of eternal damnation.   
Meredith was stunned. He had studied the bible with Mr. Croft and with Miss Leary, but not even Croft had insisted on spending whole days just learning passages of the bible by heart. He was suddenly at a loss of what to do. He was in the middle of the countryside, not sure of his whereabouts, and surrounded by religious fanatics. It frightened him. He understood now why the children did not speak, they were terrified of their grandfather and grandmother and it looked as if their parents were just as cowed really.

The day passed similarly to the previous one. Breakfast, church, bible study, lunch, bible study, church, dinner, bed. Except that for Meredith, breakfast, lunch, and dinner consisted only of dried bread and clear soup for he still refused to learn by rote passages of the bible. After 2 days of this regimen, Meredith was hungry and angry too. The 3 day-visit had now turned to a 6-day visit and Sir Selwyn was avoiding him, furthermore, he was not talking about returning to Bath either.   
Meredith was really worried and trying to hide his fear as much as he could, but he could not resolve himself to give in, not yet. He had read stories of how prisoners during the war had managed to last for years with very little food and he resolved to be as courageous as they had been. He chastised himself for warning Yannick that he would not be able to write for at least one week, and for not asking Sir Selwyn for the reverend’s address before leaving Bath: Aidan had, therefore, no idea of where he was.

More days passed in the same fashion, by now he had been at the parsonage for 9 days, he was starving and felt very alone. The children and the women avoided looking at him, he caught a pained look in Sir Selwyn’s eyes once or twice, but the elderly man did nothing to help him. The Reverend, he knew, was getting more and more infuriated with him, Meredith stared at him in the eyes defiantly. He was damned if he was going to give in.  
At the end of the 9th day, after the family had gone to bed, Meredith was tossing in his bed, unable to sleep, tormented by hunger; he would not put up with the situation for much longer, he needed more substantial food. He thought that come what may, he would try and steal some from the kitchen.   
He went downstairs bare feet as quietly as he could and managed to reach the kitchen. Unfortunately, he soon discovered that the pantry had a sturdy lock on it and that the cupboards contained no food whatsoever. He was bitterly disappointed and, sighing, he made his way back through the hall to the stairs. That was when he noticed that there was light underneath the study door. He approached carefully and stuck his ear to the door. He could make out voices he recognised as the voices of his 2 grandfathers.

Sir Selwyn was speaking softly, and Meredith could not understand his words, but it was not so for the Reverend. Meredith heard words that made his skin crawl. Rev. Milne was emphasising the need for the next steps to be taken to control a boy who had the devil in him. Not his fault, heard Meredith, brought up by a degenerate heathen, a sodomite. The only way that Jeremy would bend was if force was used, Meredith heard Rev. Milne say. To prove his point, he said that after Jeremy had been slapped, he had gone very quiet. ‘The cane is what he needs,’ were the last words that Meredith heard before he pulled away from the door, he had heard enough, and he did not want to be caught in the stairs.

Back in his room, Meredith did not take long to decide his next course of action: he would escape from this madhouse, and he would do it this very night. He listened for the 2 men going up the stairs to their bedrooms and waited a long time hoping that they would be asleep before getting up quietly and getting dressed. The exercise made him smiled, it reminded him of the silent exercises that Yannick had imposed to all on board Danae previous to their escape from Kediri. Meredith and Charley had participated, it had been a great game to them, Meredith had never in a million years thought that he would need to do this silent routine again in his life. He put his spare clothes in his bag, and took the blanket from his bed also, the nights were cold, and he would need it; then he wondered about the best way to leave the house.   
The front and back doors were securely locked, so that was out. He was on the second floor, so it was a long drop with no holding that he could think of. He had to leave from the first floor. The ladies’ parlour was on that floor and it had low windows. He went in, the window opened easily, there was nothing underneath it which as far as he could see might hurt him when he jumped, so he decided that this was his way out. He dropped the blanket and his bag to the ground to free his hands and got out of the window. He slid down along the wall, feet first, and then when he found himself dangling by his hands from the windowsill, he took a long breath and let go.   
As he pulled himself upright, he felt like laughing in relief that he was not hurt. No time to lose though, he picked up his bag and blanket and ran out of the yard to the path across the countryside. When he got to the crossroads, he had to think which way to go. He looked at the sky, it was a bright starry night, Meredith could read the stars, he needed to go west, back to Bath. It was the road that led to the church. He walked quickly in the night, he had to put as much distance between him and the house before they noticed his absence in the morning, getting caught was not an option he wanted to think about. He passed the church, the village loomed not far in the dark, he kept to the road, it was too dark to do otherwise.

As soon as dawn pointed, and he could see where he was going, he abandoned the road and walked across the countryside. He entered a wood and found a small hollow where he was able to curl himself in his blanket to sleep, unseen from a distance. He felt much refreshed after these few hours of rest. The sun told him that it was now mid-morning and he started walking again. He walked in a straight line, going west by the shortest route. Like a roman soldier would say Charley who had explained to him that they built their roads straight, taking the shortest path despite the obstacles. He smiled sadly, how he missed her! He avoided thinking too much of his empty stomach, he had found a stream in the woods so at least he was not thirsty, but he would have to find food soon.  
As dusk was falling, he approached a farmhouse. He knocked at the door and begged for a piece of bread, the man looked at him suspiciously then took pity on him, he told him to wait, closed the door and returned a few minutes later with a bread loaf and a piece of cheese. Meredith thanked him and walked away looking for a comfortable place to sit down and enjoy his first meal of the day. He was reasonable, he kept half the bread loaf and some cheese for next morning, he recalled only too well how bad he had felt at dawn, hungry and with only water from the stream to fill his empty stomach.

This time he did not walk at night, he was across country, it would not have been wise, no point in risking a twisted ankle or worse, besides, he was tired. He found a suitable spot to stop, wrapped himself in his blanket, and slept until morning.  
The following day, after his meager breakfast he continued his trip and arrived at a village. It was a fair size, a busy and attractive place with quite a few shops around the main square. He noticed a second-hand clothes shop with different items at the window and it gave him an idea. He had his spare clothes in his bag and maybe they would buy them from him. Meredith entered the shop and showed the woman the content of his bag. She tried to hide her keen interest but could not quite do it successfully.   
Meredith’s clothes were of excellent quality and she intended to drive a hard bargain for them. She speculated that he was probably a rich young gentleman who had bet too much at cards and needed cash although the poor state of the clothes he was wearing tended to show that he had been sleeping rough. Still, not her problem. They bargained for a little while and finally, Meredith walked out satisfied with coins in his purse and the woman also satisfied that she would soon make a hefty profit just by selling the nice coat she had just acquired.  
Meredith found a little shop selling hot pies and for the first time in nearly two weeks, he enjoyed a nice hot meal. He washed it down with a pint of ale and felt great afterwards. He was free, he had enough money to keep him off starving, and he was on his way home. He gathered from the pie-seller that he was 30 miles away from Bath. A long way on foot, he had to keep his money for food, he still had his bag, now filled with his blanket and one shirt he had chosen to keep, he would sell the bag later if he got desperate. He started to walk again. At dusk, by the road, he found an old empty stable. He made himself comfortable in some dry straw and went to sleep.   
On the next day, he continued walking. He followed the road, it was going in the right direction, so he followed it, who knows if he was lucky, he might get a lift from a farmer or someone. He was not. He only reached the next village late afternoon. He was getting very tired. He had eaten the extra food he’d bought the previous day while walking. There was an inn in the centre of the village. He toyed with the temptation of booking a room for the night, he had to be careful with his money, but the appeal of getting into a soft warm bed was great. He stood there to count his money.


	12. Rescue mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In search of Meredith

Aidan had disliked the decision made by Meredith to leave Bath for 3 days with his grandfather, leaving him behind. He had voiced his disagreement with his young master, but what else could he do? Meredith was determined, he told him that he had written to his father, that Aidan would not be in trouble, besides he was going to be back in 3 or 4 days-time. Well, that was now 5 days ago, and Meredith was still not back. Aidan did 2 things: first of all, he visited Sir Selwyn’s house and demanded to know where Meredith and Sir Selwyn had gone.   
The butler had resisted at first, but Aidan had been threatening, he was a tall, broad, young man and the butler realised that he was worried enough and angry enough to become threatening. Therefore, Aidan got back to his lodgings with the Reverend Milne’s address. Then he wrote to Mr. Kermor, including the address he had obtained and sent the letter by special courier; he had been told by Mr. Kermor in private before leaving the manor, not to hesitate to do so in case of problems.  
4 days later at nightfall, Mr. Kermor was at the apartment’s door. Yannick had ridden all the way from the manor, pushing his horse during the day to get to Bath as quickly as possible. He was sick with worry, he’d had the faint hope that Meredith would by now be back in Bath, but unfortunately, his hopes were dashed the moment he set eyes on the anxious-looking Aidan. They talked, Aidan told him all he knew about Sir Selwyn from what Meredith had told him, he knew nothing about the Reverend, apart from his address. Yannick told him that he would go and visit him the next day.

Yannick left early on the next morning and rode to the parsonage. The man who answered his knocking on the door told him that the Reverend was not receiving anyone, even before he had given his name. Yannick had no intention of being fobbed off, to hell with good manners. To the man’s surprise, he brutely pushed the door open and entered the hall. A door opened quickly, and a thin elderly cleric appeared, probably alarmed by the shouts of indignation from his servant.   
‘Reverend Milne, I presume. I came to pick up Meredith.’  
‘I don’t know any Meredith. Please leave my house immediately.’  
Yannick’s eyes narrowed. ‘Don’t play that game with me, Reverend, and get my son. Now.’   
The tone was icy, and Reverend Milne paled. So, this was rear admiral Mersac. And he looked threatening. This was not expected. When they had discovered that Meredith had run away, Sir Selwyn had been beside himself. Silly man, thought the reverend, the boy would not go far, after all, he had been starved for days, also he did not know where he was and had no money. The Reverend had assumed Meredith to be a spoilt and pampered boy who would probably be brought back whimpering soon enough when found. The problem was that 2 days had passed and there was still no sign of him. And now this angry man with his terrible reputation was facing him and demanding to see the boy.

Sir Selwyn appeared on top of the stairs, coming out of the parlour. The other members of the family gathered behind him. They looked afraid, of me, thought Yannick, and rightly so. His heart lurched when he noticed that Meredith was not among them. In 2 steps he was looming over the Reverend with a furious stare. He stopped himself from shaking the thin elderly man to get an answer.  
‘Well, speak. Where is Meredith.’ He growled.  
‘He’s run off,’ said Sir Selwyn feebly, ‘2 days ago.’  
It was Yannick’s turn to pale. He stood back, Sir Selwyn had reached the bottom steps and came to stand near the Reverend. He explained lamely.  
‘He did not like it here.’  
Yannick looked from one man to the other, then to the other man and the women and children huddled together at the top of the stairs. He appraised their pasty skin and thinness, their black, drab clothes and said humorously,   
‘I am not surprised seeing the condition of those children, I have seen healthier looking-ones in poor houses and slums,’ he shook his head despairingly, then his tone changed, to deadly cold, ‘I shall leave you and your miserable unhappy household now, but I am warning you, if I cannot find Meredith, or if he has suffered any harm, I shall be back and make you regret the day you were born. Mark my word.’

He rode off. West. Meredith had to have chosen to go west to get back to Bath for Aidan.  
He rode along the road for a while although he was well-aware that Meredith might have gone across country and not kept to the road. He despaired of finding him, he had to ask along the way. He had a map, so he knew what villages were on the road westward. Meredith would need food, he had to get it from farms or villages, Yannick decided to question as many people as he could until he found the boy’s trail. After that, it should be easier to find him.   
At the end of his first day, he had found nothing out at all. He spent the night at a small inn, he had to think again. He deduced that because no-one had sighted Meredith along the way, the lad must have gone by another road. That evening he looked carefully at his map, there was another road, if Meredith had gone across country, he would have reached it, leading to another village. Yannick decided that he would go there tomorrow.  
He rode off after breakfast. He chose to turn around back the way he’d come to follow the road from where Meredith might have travelled before him. He did not want to miss an opportunity of meeting people who might have seen him.

At last, he heard what he wished to hear at a farmhouse, the farmer had seen Meredith, had given him bread and cheese 2 days ago. Yannick was overjoyed. He rewarded the farmer with 2 pounds. The farmer thanked him profusely, it was more money than he had earned so far this year.  
Yannick continued to ride. He stopped at the market square of the next village, looking for somewhere to eat when he saw it. In a shop window was Meredith’s coat. It was unmistakable. He entered and questioned the shop keeper, she described Meredith and told him he had been here only yesterday. Yes, he looked well enough. Just short of money. She had seen him go and eat at the pastry selling shop on the other side of the square. Yannick bought the coat back from the woman, as well as the other items he had sold. She was delighted, she had never made such a good profit in so short a time.  
The pastry shop keeper confirmed Meredith’s passage. The lad had eaten 2 whole pies and drank one pint of ale he said and bought 2 more pies for the road. No, he did not linger here, he continued on the road, that way pointed the seller. Yannick gave himself a rest bite. He ordered one pie and one pint as well, he was feeling a lot better. He was now hot on Meredith’s trail.  
He reached the next village at dusk. And he saw him, he had his back turned from him, he was standing looking at the Posting house while examining something in his hands.

Yannick dismounted and approached quietly from behind, he wanted to shout his joy at finding him, he guessed that Meredith was probably counting his few coins, it made him smile fondly.   
He whispered near his ear: ‘I’ll pay if you like.’   
Meredith gasped and turned around. He threw his arms around his father’s neck in delight and was hugged in return. They held each other for a few minutes, too emotional to risk speaking without sobs of joy in their voices.  
At last, they separated; Yannick led Meredith to the inn. He booked one room for the night, they would share it, they had so much to talk about quietly, but first, they sat down to a proper meal.   
Yannick asked Meredith to tell his story from the time he had arrived in Bath with Aidan and what were his impressions of Sir Selwyn. Meredith ate, talked, and drank a couple of pints with his meal. By the time the meal was over, he had reached the point in his story where he had entered the parsonage for the first time.   
The Posting house was getting busier and noisier, so they went up to their bedroom so that Meredith could finish his story in peace. After he finished, it was clear that the young man was exhausted both physically and mentally. Yannick was at a loss for words. He could not understand this kind of religious fanaticism which made people hurt the ones that they should be protecting and loving. All he could offer Meredith was the assurance that he would always love him and provide a safe home for him for as long as he wished.   
The next morning, after a good night sleep, Yannick went about to find a horse for Meredith so that they could ride back to Bath; they reached the town by lunchtime, Aidan was relieved at last. The 3 men went out for a meal, then Yannick asked Meredith if he wished to visit Sir Selwyn’s house before travelling back to Cornwall on the next day. Meredith declined, he wanted to remain at the flat while Yannick went out, he would never see Sir Selwyn again, he said. Yannick nodded, said he understood.  
He went out on his own to rent a post-chaise for the next day, he also bought presents for Charley and Nicky. But before he did, he called at Sir Selwyn’s house. If his instincts were right, the elderly man must have travelled back to Bath straight away, guessing that he would only get news of his grandson there.

Sir Selwyn was at home. The old man who opened the door hesitated before letting him inside the house after Yannick informed him of his identity. He told the servant that he did not intend to harm Sir Selwyn, only to reassure him about his grandson’s welfare. The old man’s face broke with a smile of relief.   
‘The young gentleman is safe, sir?’ He asked.   
‘Yes, quite safe, thank you.’ ‘Thank God.’ was the servant’s answer who then took Yannick to his master.   
Sir Selwyn looked old and sad in his chair. He watched Yannick approach warily; he did not speak.  
‘I’ve come to tell you that your grandson is safe and also that we shall be leaving Bath in the morning.’  
‘He did not accompany you to say good-bye,’ the voice was soft, the tone resigned.  
‘No. He did not want to.’   
Yannick’s tone was cold, he had thought that it was right to let the old man knows that Meredith was safe, but he had no intention of sparing his feelings. What this man had put the adolescent through at the parsonage had revolted him and he was not in an understanding or forgiving mood. He bowed slightly and turned around to leave.   
‘Wait, please, I have something to return to Meredith.’ Sir Selwyn got up and picked up a sketchbook and some pencils from his desk. He held them to Yannick who took them. Meredith had told him last night how angry it had made him that his all-precious sketchbook had been taken from his room.  
‘Tell him I am truly sorry for the pain and anxiety I put him through. Tell him also that I am proud of the way he behaved, he stood up courageously for his opinions. It was very wrong of me to trust Milne’s judgment. We should have left when Meredith asked me to.’  
Sir Selwyn’s words attracted Yannick’s curiosity despite his earlier resolve not to attempt understanding.  
‘Why didn’t you, then?’  
‘Because I was a blinded fool. The Reverend Milne is a respected man, he is highly spoken of in church circles. When Niall married Jane, I was congratulated that my son was deemed worthy of entering the Reverend’s family. His words and opinions are never contradicted. After Niall and Jane got married, I had little to do with the Reverend, I scarcely knew him personally. I thought it fair to tell him of the presence in Bath of his grandson, and when he suggested we’d call at the parsonage, I thought it made sense, he had a large family, it was easier for Meredith and me to do the travelling. I am a devoted Christian myself; you see. Milne was even more devoted than me, he said he wanted to save Meredith’s eternal soul, bringing him back into the fold of the church by rubbing away the evil he had in him.’  
Yannick interrupted hotly. ‘There is no evil in Meredith. How can a man who had never set eyes on him before can profess such a thing?’  
Sir Selwyn looked somewhat embarrassed, ‘Milne assumed that because you brought him up then….’ He did not finish his sentence, frightened by the dark look he saw in Yannick’s eyes. What Sir Selwyn did not know was that Yannick’s anger was not directed against him, but rather against the men who had aimed to destroy his reputation after the war. And who had won. After a large breath intake, he trusted himself to speak to Sir Selwyn.  
‘Then you thought Reverend Milne had to be right. Did not the week you spent with Meredith count for something? Surely you got to know him, saw that he is a decent, caring young man with no evil in his heart,’ he paused before adding, ‘despite the fact that I raised him.’  
‘I did, yes, I can’t explain what came over me. Can’t explain why this man imposed his views so easily on me. I opened my eyes too late; I see that now. The irony is that the night Meredith bolted I had come to my senses and decided to leave the parsonage the next morning. Milne had told me that night that he was going to use his cane on Meredith because he couldn’t get him to obey and it opened my eyes. I swear to you that I would never have let him hurt him this way.’  
‘And yet you said nothing when he slapped him.’  
‘No, I wasn’t there when he did it, and I did not get the opportunity to speak to Meredith on his own after. I asked Milne and his children what had happened, and they said that Meredith had been insolent.’  
Yannick smiled, ‘I believe he was, yes. It was brought up by the fact that he was not allowed to explain his point of view. It angered him, he told me. I have always let my own children express their point of view. We discuss things at our house, Meredith was not used to Milne’s way to educate his children. He was taught to think for himself.’  
Sir Selwyn nodded sadly, ‘I made so many mistakes. And now it’s too late, I can see that. I am the only one to blame. I will not change my will even if he never wants to see me again. He is my grandson and he will inherit my possessions after I die. I know that I can trust you to tell him how sorry I am.’  
‘I will. I can’t promise you anything on Meredith’s behalf, but know that I shall write to you and give you news of him. I do not believe that a man should pay all his life for a mistake he truly regrets. I have to take my leave now, sir.’   
He bowed, and this time walked to the door without looking at Sir Selwyn again, he did not wish to see the hope his words must have lit up in the older man’s eyes, he was not at all sure that Meredith could forgive.


	13. Rapprochement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A marriage, a birthday party to remember, and plans are drawn for a journey. 1818 is definitely a busy year for all concerned.

Yannick did not tell Meredith about his intention to write to Sir Selwyn. Meredith thanked his father for returning his sketchbook, he was well-aware of how he’d come to having it in his possession. He told Yannick that he did not want the Bath episode as he called it ever mentioned again. Yannick could not help saying that he did not think that it was the right thing to do, nevertheless, he agreed to comply with Meredith’s wishes.  
They returned by post-chaise, with Aidan ridding Yannick’s horse by their side, he was delighted with the arrangement, he had never had the opportunity to ride such a nice animal before. They were welcomed by Charley and Nicky at home. Charley hugged Meredith for a long time, she promised to never let him go away without her again in her life. Yannick and Meredith laughed at her and reminded her gently that this was a promise that was quite impossible to keep.   
Yannick did not stay with them very long, he wanted to see Ethan, no, rather he needed to be with Ethan. The more he knew the man, the more he loved him. He hated being separated from him for any amount of time at all. It was not just the physical intercourse he missed, it was also their conversation, being able to share opinions freely, to listen to, and be listened to in turn. There was not a subject which was taboo between them. Yannick had opened himself to Ethan in a way he had never been able to with anyone else.

Ethan did not quite feel the same, there was one subject he had never questioned Yannick about Hadrian. He had learnt of the affair the night Yannick had told him who he was. He knew they had loved each other deeply and how hard Hadrian’s death had hit Yannick. Yannick had never mentioned him again since. He had never told Ethan any details about their intimate relationship and Ethan had not dared ask. He knew Yannick loved him and he convinced himself that he was not jealous, ‘I mean, how silly to be jealous of a dead man,’ still, he was afraid of Hadrian’s ghost because at the back of his mind he believed that Yannick probably compared them.   
Tonight, with Yannick nestled contentedly in his arms after love, and telling him once again how much he loved him and how he had never been so close to another before, Ethan had said carefully, after hesitation, ‘not even to Hadrian?’ The physical reaction, like a sudden stiffening to his words, he’d expected, no, feared, did not happen.  
The voice who answered him was very soft. A whisper, ‘no. Not even to Hadrian. You have never asked questions about him, about how it was…, you know…, in bed between us.’  
‘That’s because I dare not.’  
‘You have nothing to fear. I am closer to you than I was to Hadrian. I loved him, and I loved how he took me, but I am closer to you. There were matters about my past life that I only told him a few days before he died; I had not wanted him to know that my father and the officers on board ‘Liberté’ had raped me.’ He paused, and Ethan asked. ‘But why not? I mean it was not your fault, there was no shame.’  
Yannick smiled in the dark. ‘Oh, there was in my eyes. I was ashamed for not managing to defend myself. Since that first night when I allowed him in my room, we played a power game. He was proud of his looks and power of seduction and having a French Admiral beneath him filled him with pride. I saw how much he wanted me and I played with him at the reception. His desire was apparent, so I teased him all night, daring him to risk all for me. I wanted him just as badly as he wanted me, but I had to let him believe that I was in control. When I let him into my room, I took control, I kissed him, started to undress him and I showed him how I wanted him. So that night we both got what we wished. When we met again, our situation had changed, he was a Lord and I was a disgraced admiral, no longer above him socially. I needed him to think that I was and had always been in control of my body. I did not want him to know that I had been a victim of rape. And in bed, it was still as good as it had been at Kediri. The balance of power was about right, you see. I eventually got around to tell him in London,’ he stopped again and looked at Ethan in the eyes, ‘now, what you really want to know: how was it with him in bed in comparison with you. Don’t protest please, let me finish.’ Ethan sighed and blinked. ‘Hadrian was highly sexed. He wanted to do it all the time, anywhere, anytime, and I liked it. We probably fucked at least once in every room of the manor. I had far fewer servants then than I have now, but we still played a dangerous game at times. It’s what we both liked, I’ll not pretend otherwise. Also, you know how I sometimes like it rough. You don’t, I realise that. I regret it, you know that too. Hadrian had no such misgivings.’ Ethan stiffened, he did not like what he was hearing, but he wanted to hear it nevertheless, Yannick kissed his mouth lightly before continuing, ‘on the other hand, I only took him in my mouth once and I noticed that he was not at ease with it. I did not repeat the experience and he never offered to do it to me. Unfortunately for me. You can probably guess my shock that morning on the beach when you showed no such reluctance at pleasing me that way. I never entered him either. I never even bothered to ask if he’d like it because I knew he would have refused. You are the only man I have ever taken, Ethan. I should have told you this before now, I am sorry I did not earlier, the first night you let me.’  
Ethan frowned, ‘you know why he would have refused; I suppose.’  
‘Yes. Because he was too proud to bend for another man even if he loved him. And I do believe that he did love me, but his pride also told him I was HIS, not the other way around.’  
‘I never considered that you belonged to me,’ said Ethan. Yannick was thoughtful for a moment.   
‘Now, that’s interesting. I can’t say that you belong to me either, you are a free man, although, you see, because I pledge myself to you, to love you and be faithful to you till death do us part, if you do the same, then, in fact, I think we do belong to each other if that makes sense.’  
This time Ethan laughed, ‘it does make sense somehow and I do pledge myself to you, my love. You know it does sound like a marriage vow; you missed a bit though.’  
‘Did I?’  
‘Yes. The bit which says: ‘With my body I honour you.’  
‘Doesn’t that come after rings are exchanged?’  
‘It does. We not a very traditional couple though, are we, so it does not matter if we do the part, ‘with my body I honour you,’ before we exchange rings, does it?’ He said mischievously and bent over to kiss Yannick’s lips while his hands started to roam over his lover’s body making his intentions very clear.  
At dawn, Ethan woke up before his lover for once. He watched Yannick sleep peacefully beside him and felt happier than he had ever done in his life. He loved and was loved in return. No more shadows, no more doubts. He thought about their talk of rings last night, after the confidence his lover had revealed, ‘I’d like that, to wear his ring and see mine at his finger, a public display that the 2 of us would understand,’ he mused. He heard the back door open and Yannick stirred in his sleep before opening his eyes. He saw Ethan watching him and smiled. His hand reached behind Ethan’s neck and he pulled him for a kiss.

Spring 1818 made way to summer. This year, summer was hot and dry quite a contrast with the last 2 years when the sun had hardly shown itself at all. Yannick resumed his old habit of going swimming early in the morning despite Ethan’s objections. He generally managed to get up and out of the lodge way before Mrs. Atkins’ arrival to reach the beach. He had tried to convince Ethan of accompanying him, that it was a healthy exercise, but he did not win the argument. Ethan hated cold water. On the good side, Yannick had found him waiting for him in the little cove where he undressed more than once…  
On one such occasion, Yannick had been most surprised and moved when Ethan had dropped to one knee and offered a ring to him. Yannick had been too shocked to speak; he had instead dropped to his knees in front of his lover and had hugged him fiercely before letting him slide the signet ring on his finger. Ethan had then pulled another identical ring from his pocket and asked Yannick to slid it on his finger. They remained kneeling down and facing each other while reciting marriage vows in turn before kissing passionately. Yannick had laughed happily afterwards, while lying contentedly in Ethan’s arms, both naked under the sun and thinking of this, the most unconventional marriage ceremony ever, with 2 bridegrooms instead of one with one of them receiving his wedding ring stark naked.

In early summer, ‘Perseus’ returned to England with a full load of wine and brandy casks as well as news from Loïk, Simona, and the twins. The family had found a house and settled down at Blaye where Loïk was supervising the unloading, storing, and shipping of the goods coming from and going out to England.  
Anna and Louis made the journey to Cornwall several times to talk about their trade and its future expansion. Louis had taken a firm interest in the business, forgotten were his dream of becoming a writer. When Yannick mentioned it to him, Louis laughed. He had found out, he said good-naturedly, that he had no talent, it was as simple as that…Yannick had laughed too, well that was an excellent reason to look for something else to do. His studies at Oxford were over, he had passed all his exams and had decided to learn the business with his mother.   
‘That will not endear you with your father. A future duke cannot possibly work, you know.’   
‘I should not inherit the title. You are the eldest son; it should go to you!’  
‘He has managed to disinherit me as you well know. I sometimes wonder if he was not behind some of the articles written against me. He was the one who benefitted most from them. It enabled him to show that I was unfit to inherit the title and should be passed over. Anyway, you will do a splendid duke, Louis.’  
Louis was thoughtful. There was a time when he would not have believed his father capable of such villainy, only now he was not so sure. From where they were talking, on the top terrace overlooking the sea in the distance, he could also see inside Yannick’s library. The windows were wide open, and Louis watched his mother’s head bent over documents with Miss Leary.

The 2 women had become firm friends and Miss Leary had also found business interesting. They were of similar ages and Miss Leary had found herself a little tired of teaching recently. She had warned Yannick that she would not teach Nick when the time came for the child to have formal lessons. Teaching young children, she found, did not appeal to her. She liked the challenges of teaching Meredith and Charley, but the 2 adolescents did not keep her occupied all day. She was giving them work and she checked it with them afterwards, but in truth, they worked mainly by themselves now. Miss Leary also enjoyed Anna’s company. A lot. Yannick had noticed looks between the 2 women which made him wonder if friendship was all that there were between them. Louis seemed utterly unaware of it all. Every time Anna and Louis returned to London; Miss Leary became a little quieter than usual for a few days until the daily routine took over again.  
Because of Miss Leary’s refusal to teach Nick in the future, Yannick had taken the drastic and unheard-off decision to have his younger son taught at the village school starting on the autumn of his 7th year. The schoolmaster had nearly been destabilised when Yannick had told him. The idea of teaching the son of the lord of the manor with the children of the villagers shocked him. Yannick had dismissed his argument lightly.   
‘Can’t see why he shouldn’t be attending your school. I heard nothing but praise for your teaching and Nick is just a child like the others. Besides, it will do him good to be with other children. They will soon forget who he is in the playground, you’ll see.’   
The schoolteacher, Cedric Smith, had not been convinced, but he was not really in a position to refuse anyway. The estate paid for the school upkeep, including his own wage, and he lacked for nothing. He just hoped that young Nicholas was not going to be an insufferable spoilt little brat, that was all. Despite Mr. Kermor’s words, Nick was not a child like the others. He did not worry too much about it for now though, after all, Nick was only in his 5th year, plenty of time for Kermor to change his mind yet.

Yannick continued his steady correspondence with Sir Selwyn. What had started at first with letters to inform the older man of Meredith’s welfare and study progress had become a real friendly exchange. Yannick had described how Meredith had been rescued and how he had been educated on board ‘Danae’. He told him why he had fled France, explained his own English origins on his mother’s side. He spoke of Charley and of how close the 2 adolescents were. Of Nick also, although he did not elaborate about Nick’s or Charley’s mothers.   
Sir Selwyn had little to say at first. He repeated what he had told Meredith about the lad’s parents, then he started to write about events happening in the country, voicing his opinions, deploring the dire situation of the poor which led to more and more social unrest. Yannick discovered that Sir Selwyn gave to charities and belonged to a committee that financed a poor house in Bath. He found the man more and more sympathetic with ideas and opinions closer to his own than he had thought. He had even trusted Sir Selwyn with his name and address in Cornwall, so the letters did not come by the intermediary of his solicitor in London any longer. He was despairing that Meredith was still showing no interest in renewing contact with his grandfather.   
Meredith was well aware of the letters exchanged between the two men and he never asked questions to his father. Yannick had promised him that he would not broach the subject of his grandfather again and he kept his promise despite his frustration caused by his son’s stubbornness.  
One day, at the end of July, as he started to read one of Sir Selwyn’s letters in his study with his door open, he suddenly exclaimed and laughed heartily. Meredith and Charley were walking through the hall, on their way to play a game of croquet on the terrace with Nicky and their heads turned at the sound. Their father was standing in the room reading a letter apparently with great amusement.   
‘What is it, Papa,’ asked Charley, always curious, ‘is it private or can we also partake in a laugh?’  
Yannick looked at her, smiling, ‘it’s not private, no. Come on in and close the door and I’ll tell you.’  
The two adolescents moved forward, but Yannick lifted his hand up. ‘Only you Charley. Meredith doesn’t want to know.’ Meredith opened his mouth to protest and then he realised that the letter was probably from Sir Selwyn. He stood there, immobile, while his sister entered and closed the door behind her.   
He was left frustrated and seething to be left out because he knew that Charley would refuse to tell him the content of the letter. He had talked about his feelings to her and she had wisely advised him to give his grandfather another chance. Her argument had been that if Papa kept writing to him, he must not be such a bad man after all, or Papa would have given up by now. And of course, several months later, Papa was still writing to Sir Selwyn. Furthermore, his letters now arrived directly at the manor meaning that Papa trusted the man to keep his identity and whereabouts secret. Meredith knew that he should capitulate and forgive, but his pride was getting the better of him. Until now. He took a deep intake of breath, swallowed his pride as well, and he knocked at the door.  
He was invited to enter. His father was sitting on the edge of his desk and Charley had taken up his brand-new swirling chair. ‘I’d like to know too, please; the letter is from Sir Selwyn?’   
‘It is, yes. Do you wish to hear what he has to say?’  
Meredith nodded silently and sat down on one of the chairs. Yannick started to read the letter:

"Dear Mr. Kermor,  
I trust this letter finds you and your family in continuous good health. I have received some news which I think will please you greatly. I hope you will find a way of letting Meredith know also.  
You might not be aware that as well as having the living of St John’s parish, the Reverent Milne has revenues from land that he has acquired over the years and which makes him a rather wealthy man. I am telling you this because it is relevant for the rest of my tale. Last week, at my club, I was given news of some interesting happening at the parsonage of St John. As you know, I myself have had no contact with the Reverend Milne since I left on the day of your visit there, so I could not have found out earlier. Only 3 days after Meredith escape, Gabriel, the Reverend’s son left the parsonage with his wife and children to live with his wife’s parents until they found another home. When Gabriel informed his father of his decision to leave the parsonage, he was threatened with being thrown out of the parish and left without a penny to meet the needs of his family. I remind you that Gabriel has 6 children to feed. Amazingly, he called his father’s bluff and, you see, Gabriel is the steward of his father’s estate. He told his father that they would live off his wife’s dowry until he found another position as steward somewhere else. Apparently, Milne did not believe that his son would actually leave until the day the family gathered their few possessions and walked away.   
It immediately became the talk of the town. Gabriel’s wife's father who had not been allowed by Milne to approach his grandchildren was furious at the state they were in and proclaimed everywhere that Milne had starved them for years. You can imagine how this damaged his reputation.  
Worse for him, he had lost his steward. He had trusted his son to administer his land because he knew that as heir it was in Gabriel’s interest to look after it properly. So he found himself on his own, a man with no knowledge of running an estate and afraid of employing someone who could rob him.  
So, my dear Mr. Kermor, imagine the scene, Milne had to go to his son and actually begged him to take up his position again. He offered a rent-free house for the family to live in and, so I am told, he gave his son a decent living wage.  
I have no doubt whatsoever that these events happened thanks to Meredith standing up to Milne as well as to your scathing words when you rode away. I think it gave Gabriel the courage he needed to finally break from his father’s harmful influence and live his own life.  
Well, I must finish this missive now, I am sure that my news pleased you. I know that it is not a Christian thought, but I can’t help rejoicing at the thought of Milne and his wife spending the rest of their days alone in their dark, cold house. I will regret it until my last breath not seeing what the man was really like earlier and I hope that God will forgive me for the harm I did to my beloved grandson.  
Yours sincerely,  
Selwyn Delaney"

Meredith understood his father’s pleasure at reading this letter, he shared his satisfaction of knowing that the Reverend Milne would not now be harming his close family any longer. The last words of the letter touched him more than he could say.   
He recalled how he had taken to his grandfather straight away and he had been thinking of him often since he got back to the manor. The resentment he had felt had dimmed over the months and he had to admit that his stubbornness in the matter was costing him. It was also costing Sir Selwyn of course. A dreadful thought came into his mind: what if he was taking after Milne? What if he too was too stubborn to listen to others and unable to forgive their flaws? It had the effect of a cold shower on him, he met his father’s gaze and said:  
‘Would it be all right to invite grandfather here for my birthday celebrations?’

His question was met with a large smile, Yannick moved from his perch and took Meredith in his arms, hugging him tightly. ‘I think it’s a wonderful idea.’  
For the first time in his life, Meredith was going to celebrate his birthday on the right day. They had previously celebrated it on the day of his rescue by Yannick because it had meant a day for a new life to the child. This year he knew for a certainty that it was the right day and his 16th birthday. Yannick had planned a grand dinner with music and dancing in the long gallery afterwards.   
Sir Selwyn arrived 5 days before the birthday celebration and the reunion with Meredith was very emotional. Yannick left the adolescent alone with his grandfather for most of the day, they had much to talk about. On the second day, Sir Selwyn acquainted himself better with Charley and Nicky. The weather had been beautiful during the whole month of August and they had practically lived outdoors most of the time.

On the third day of the visit, in the afternoon, Meredith suggested that they should go down to the village for a walk. Charley and Nicky immediately agreed, and they were shocked when Yannick objected.   
‘But it’s such a nice day and we have plenty of time to get there and back before dinner,’ argued Charley.  
‘I know. I still don’t want you to go, though.’  
Charley frowned, then her eyes lit up, ‘I know, they are planning a surprise for Meredith in the village!’  
Yannick shrugged. ‘What nonsense! Of course, they aren’t. Don’t insist please, surely I should be able to give you an order without having to justify myself.’   
He tried to sound stern. He saw that Charley was not believing him, but after a sigh, she gave in. ‘All right. Let’s have yet another game of croquet then. Will you play with us at least?’  
Yannick had to turn around quickly to avoid his daughter seeing his amused expression. ‘I will, yes, I love croquet.’   
Sir Selwyn also joined in and revealed himself to be very good at it. He even won two games in a row. The afternoon went by quickly, Charley seemed to get over her disappointment and she put her heart into the game also. She was about to hit the ball when Nicky shouted, ‘look, there’s a carriage coming down the road!’   
He clapped his hands enthusiastically: ‘Surprise! It’s the surprise!’  
They all turned around to look. The trees were hiding the view from the road most of the way down to the manor.   
‘I can’t see anything, Nicky. Are you sure?’  
‘Yes, yes, listen, can’t you hear horses too?’  
They listened and found that Nick was right, they could hear the rattle of wheels on gravels now and the sound of horses hoofs as well. Meredith looked at his father:  
‘Are you expecting visitors, Papa?’  
‘I might be, and if you run along you should be able to catch them at the front door before the doorman opens it.’   
The 3 children did not waste a second; Meredith picked up Nicky in his arms, knowing that the younger one with his smaller legs would not be able to keep up with Charley and him.  
They rushed through the large back entrance of the reception hall to access the front door and got there even before the carriage had fully stopped in the drive. The front door had already been opened by a footman. The old manor was once more filled with cries of joy when Charley, Meredith, and Nick saw Angie and Max jump out of the carriage ahead of their parents. The youngsters hugged each other in delight, so pleased to see each other again.   
Yannick and Sir Selwyn arrived in turn at a more sedate pace and Yannick welcomed his sister and her husband in the hall, introducing Sir Selwyn. The children had already run out onto the terrace. The adults followed. Under an awning, servants were bringing refreshments for the travellers.  
‘Do you still wish you’d gone to the village, Matelotte?’ Teased Yannick.   
‘Oh, Papa, I’d never thought you could manage to keep such a secret from me! And I’m so glad you did! ’She rewarded her father with a quick kiss before running off back to her cousins.

The weary travellers were glad to refresh themselves after their long journey. Anna and Louis were not with them. Yannick had known this in advance and had taken it upon himself to warn Miss Leary. He had found out that she was already aware that they would be absent. Anna kept a regular correspondence with her. Miss Leary informed Yannick that they had gone to France earlier on family business, they had not told Yannick because it concerned his father.  
Yannick’s family never mentioned his father to him. He had no idea where his father was or if he contacted Anna or Louis. Obviously, he now realised that if Anna and Louis had decided to travel to France, it must mean that they did have contact. He decided to talk to Anne-Laure later about it.  
The opportunity came after dinner. Sir Selwyn and Miss Leary had retired to their rooms early and Yannick found himself alone with his sister and her husband in the drawing room. He knew she had no secret from Alex, so he decided to broach the subject with them.

He discovered that Valentin had recently written to his wife to inform her of his health difficulties. Anne-Laure said he had not been specific but had begged her and Louis to travel to Térouanne to see him. Apparently, the tone of the letter implied that the situation was serious and after much soul-searching, mother and son had decided to visit. Anna and Louis were concerned that if they did not see Valentin before he died it could weigh heavily on their mind. Anne-Laure told Yannick that they were hoping to hear the man convey his regrets for his behaviour.  
Yannick’s expression showed that he did not believe it, but then again, he had not seen his father since he was 12 years old and he was heavily prejudiced against the man. Anne-Laure’s thoughts on the matter he found, were much like his own. Yannick was the one he should be seeking forgiveness from first of all said Anne-Laure and Valentin did not mention his eldest son in his letter, nor Anne-Laure either.  
Alex suggested that Valentin had in fact lured his wife and Louis by pulling on the heartstrings of the gentler members of his family to get them to come to visit. Both brother and sister tended to agree with his assessment. Anne-Laure added cynically: ‘It’s more likely that he needs her money.’   
The 2 men wholly agreed with her. When she had married Valentin, Anna’s properties and business had become her husband’s property. Luckily, Valentin’s strong dislike of trade had prevented him from getting involved in her business ventures so long as they provided him with all the money he required. It had worked out so far, but of course, now that they were separated, the situation could change to Anna’s disadvantage. Valentin would never agree to a divorce, they were sure of that. What could they do to help though?   
Anna and Louis had gone, Yannick was a little bit upset that they did not inform him that this journey was the reason why they could not attend Meredith’s birthday celebrations.   
‘That is probably because they did not want to hear from you also what they’d already heard from Alex and me, which is that they were going to be sorely disappointed if they expected him to be repentant.’  
They changed the topics of conversation to the business. The wine labeled under ‘Château Kermor’ was selling well in London. Anna was really an excellent businesswoman, she had used her connections to introduce Yannick's wine and brandy to high society and had made it become fashionable. She had started her distribution company a few years ago, created under Louis’ name although she was running it. Valentin had reluctantly agreed to it; it was proof of Anna’s talent that she had convinced him to accept to see his son’s name attached to a business venture…

The company’s profits increased substantially thanks to the sale of Yannick’s wine and he was no longer worried that his heavy expenses on the estate would cause him problems. He talked to Alex about buying a second ship and expand their own shipping company. Alex thought it a good idea. Anne-Laure and he told him of their desire to buy a property near Plymouth. They had found a house at the edge of Dartmoor Forest that they liked very much. Alex’s family had a seat in Cumbria, near Carlisle, but it was very far away from London as well as being a very old house built in medieval times. Anne-Laure hated it. She always felt cold within these dark walls. Alex had received an offer from a retired army general who wished to rent it and he had accepted. Anne-Laure and Alex had sold aunt Henrietta’s house in London and the money was enough to finance the house in Dorset. Yannick was delighted by their decision. Of course, Alex and Anne-Laure would still spend a great deal of time in London, but when they were not, they would be much closer to visits.  
It was getting late, Yannick politely offered them another drink which they declined. Anne-Laure looked at her brother and said:  
‘It’s getting late, we should be retiring after such a long journey. Besides, I expect that we are holding you up. Ethan must be getting tired of waiting for you.’  
She felt rather pleased with herself watching her brother’s embarrassed expression. Alex was snorting. Finally, Yannick shook his head helplessly. ‘He is a very patient man.’ She smiled at him, ‘I like him.’   
She did not add any more, she got up, signaling to Alex that it was time to go to bed. Yannick followed them out of the drawing room, but not up the stairs. He had not spent the last 2 nights with Ethan. He had not known what Sir Selwyn’s habits were and did not want to risk meeting him on his way out of the house if he had sleep problems and liked to walk around at night. He was now reassured that it was not the case. Sir Selwyn liked to go to his bed early and this suited Yannick fine.   
He walked to the lodge in a light, happy mood, his sister had come to terms with his relationship with Ethan and accepted it, furthermore, she was going to be living a great deal closer to him soon, he only had good news to tell his beloved husband tonight. They loved calling each other husband since they exchanged rings.

They knew that mock marriages were celebrated between men in Molly-houses in London, but also that it was a dangerous activity. In 1810 the infamous Molly-house of Vere street where some marriages had been celebrated, had been raided and 8 men were convicted, 2 of them were hanged for buggery, the other 6 suffered in the hands of the crowd at the pillory. It was rumoured that the Reverend John Church had conducted same sex marriages. He had been convicted of attempted buggery only last summer and condemned to serve 2 years imprisonment. Yannick had read pamphlets reporting how a violent hateful mob in London had burnt his effigy at the sentence.

He found Ethan in the parlour, reading. Ethan had not been sure that Yannick would come to him tonight. He was pretty busy with organizing Meredith’s birthday feast and hosting Sir Selwyn and Anne-Laure and her family. They met during the day, bumping into each other occasionally either at the village or at the mines, and exchanging a few words then, although Yannick had not been at the clay works this week due to Sir Selwyn and his family’s visits. Because he had wanted to keep the surprise from the children, he had arranged his sister’s visit personally with the help of the faithful Mrs. Harvey, Mary, and John. Bedrooms had to be quietly prepared, and the refreshment and dinner organised for 4 extra guests, all secretly. They had pulled it off, though. The pleasure he’d read on his children’s faces had amply rewarded him for the trouble they had taken.   
Ethan listened to the news from the manor, he detected that Yannick was worried about Louis and Anna travelling to France to see Valentin.   
‘Have you ever considered facing up to your father one day?’ asked Ethan.   
Yannick looked grave, ‘I did when I was younger. I dreamt of going up to him and look into his eyes, wondering if he could meet mine without flinching. I haven’t for a long time now. I rather not, you see, because I am not sure that I could stop myself from physically hurting him.’   
‘Do you think that you are still angry enough to be able to beat up an old man? I mean, you could kill him if you did. I suppose you have killed men in battle, but this is different isn’t it, even if your built-up anger means that it would not be like cold-blooded murder.’  
Yannick paled. That was a secret he had not told Ethan. He had implied to Robert, Thomas as well as to Meredith and Charley that Hadrian’s murderers did not get away with their crime without telling them any details of what he had actually done. He could not meet Ethan’s eyes right now. How would Ethan, a man who dedicated his life to caring for his fellow men, react if he found out that his lover had murdered 4 men in cold blood? Ethan was right, Yannick had killed in battles, he had also ordered men to be hanged, he had felt his saber enter men’s bodies in the heat of fighting, but he also knew what it felt like to slit an unaware man’s throat and to put a bullet through another’s head while watching the panic rise in the eyes of his victim. He recalled that the feeling had been one of joy and that he had never regretted his actions.

He realised that his silence was lasting too long. He was feeling Ethan’s eyes upon him, patient as usual, but waiting for him to break the silence, probably suspecting an inner struggle in his lover’s head. Finally, Ethan spoke:  
‘You don’t have to tell me. I don’t want to make you relive violent memories of the war. I fought in the navy too, remember, and I saw the state of mangled sailors brought down to the orlop deck. It’s history. Neither of us will forget what we did or what he saw, we just have to learn to live with it. About your father, I wonder if it’s not a good idea to go and face him though and tell him how you feel.’  
Yannick felt guilty, Ethan had misunderstood his silence, but then it was for the best, it meant that he did not need to explain his real feelings further. One day, maybe, he would tell Ethan, not now though. He thought about his vengeful acts sometimes, he had no regret, he knew that given the choice, he would kill these men again. That did not mean that he was proud of it, simply that justice had to be done and it had been the only way as far as he could see at the time. Would Ethan think as he did? That was one thing he was not certain about and so he took no risk while continuing the conversation:  
‘You are most likely right. I should go for my own sake and see him before he dies and tell him how I feel,’ he smiled at Ethan, ‘the problem is that I cannot see myself being away from you for several weeks. Anna has hinted several times that she’d like to see where my wine is produced and if I meet her at Térouanne, she will surely suggest that we make the most of the visit to France and travel to Mersac also.’  
‘What if I came with you?’  
Yannick gasped, ‘you could? I mean, it would mean leaving the people without a physician for weeks, I know they used to live without one before you came, but now, your surgery is always full, and the mineworkers are counting on your weekly or emergency visits. I would never accept to cause some of my people to come to harm if you accompanied me.’  
‘I know and I wouldn’t contemplate it either, but last week I received a letter from a friend, a fellow physician I met in London. He has worked in London hospitals for a few years and has recently got married. His wife is expecting, and she is a frail lady apparently who does not fare well in the London air. He is planning to leave the city and set up a practice in the country. Knowing of my new life here in Porthdowns, he asked my feelings about it. I could write back and suggests that he came and replace me for a few weeks, that way he could decide for himself if it’s the kind of life they want.’  
‘That would be wonderful if he accepted. Will you write before we make a further plan?’  
‘Of course. But you know if he can’t, it still should not stop you from going without me. I don’t want an eventual regret from your part clouding our relationship in the future. We could survive a few weeks, even months apart, I am sure.’  
‘So am I. But I don’t want to, nonetheless. I won’t mind if he passes away without me ever seeing him again. I prefer this to the alternative of being apart from you.’  
Ethan leaned in to kiss his lips tenderly, ‘time for bed, I think,’ he said as Yannick’s fingers curled into his hair and his mouth opened to deepen the kiss.

Meredith’s birthday, 2 days later, was a grand affair. Richard and Amber, Thomas, and Alicia and their children had been invited. They arrived on the day before the event and would only stay for 2 nights. For most of the afternoon, villagers had come up to the manor and enjoyed the food that had been prepared on the terrace, under the vast awning set up to protect the guests from the sun. Meredith received good wishes and presents from everyone. The youth was much loved in the village where he was a frequent visitor and often worked alongside the vicar at the poor house. He got on well with Simon, he had told him about his recent discovery concerning his family and was pleased to be able to introduce Sir Selwyn to him. In the evening, after a dinner where the family, friends, and the notables of the village were invited, music and dancing livened up the night in the long gallery. Yannick had told the villagers that anyone was welcomed to the dance and the young people had only been too glad to make an appearance. As soon as night had fallen, fireworks lit up the terraces. For Nicky and for the villagers likewise, it was the first time they’d seen such a spectacle, and most went to their beds that night dreaming of the wondrous lights of the display.  
The company retired in the small hours of the morning. Yannick watched Ethan return to the lodge with a sore heart, he would have liked to invite him to stay at the manor tonight and spend the morning in his bed wrapped in Ethan’s arms, but of course, that could not be. Ethan walked down the terraces with his father, brother, sister, and their families to the point where he turned to reach the lodge while his family continued down to the village.   
Yannick hoped that Ethan’s colleague would take up his offer to stand for him allowing Ethan to travel to France. Abroad, and away from anyone who knew them, they would be able to share a bedroom without any risks or gossips.

He let out a deep sigh. He had gone to Mersac after the war had ended in 1814. He’d had a vague memory of his uncle Pierre taking him there once in his childhood. He had remembered a medieval castle, a huge dark place with towers and long corridors and stairs to get lost in.   
When he visited in 1814, it was as he remembered it, worse by some aspects because revolutionaries had set fire to the newest wing of the castle and one of the towers, and the damage was very visible. He had toyed with the idea of settling down there, far from Paris, the agitation, and the new rulers.  
Charley and Meredith had asked if the place was haunted. They had explored the castle, running up and downstairs, getting lost, and loving the fun of it all. They had liked the night spent in a dark and gloomy room, huddled in a small bed set in an alcove by the fireplace, a lot less. It had been the only room with a decent bed left in it if you could call it that. Yannick had spent the night on the floor, on a bed of straw in front of the fireplace, wrapped in blankets. They had stayed 4 days there; after the first dismal night, he had beds put up in one large bedroom that they would share, for the time being, then he had toured the place studying it carefully wondering how much work was needed to make it habitable. An awful lot, he had concluded.

It was while they were at Mersac that pamphlets with stories about him started to circulate. He only read 2 or 3 at first but was horrified at the thought that Charley or Meredith could read one of them. Also, people around Mersac knew who he was, and they started to look at him in a way that showed that they too had heard the stories about him. Mersac was too small a place to hide, there were accusing or suspicious eyes on him when he was out, it was only a matter of time before the children noticed. He had decided to return to Paris, at least the ‘hotel particulier’ he had inherited from uncle Pierre was a comfortable house to live in.   
He was wrong to think that Paris would offer a sanctuary though. The pamphlets about his character were very popular. People liked to gossip, and they liked to be incensed about the bad behaviour of others. He noticed bitterly how fast it took to fall from grace, one day he was a popular and cherished hero and the next a despised amoral pervert.

As soon as he realised that he would not find peace in Paris either, he took the decision to go to England. Maître Dubois had given him aunt Henrietta’s letter explaining her gift of Rosemarkie to him and the deeds of the estate. He had not made any decision about this gift at the time, the war had only just finished, and living in England had never entered his mind. The publication of the articles which had continued and even worsened with the report of the story that he had raped Lady Alconbury had precipitated his decision to leave. He had felt physically sick reading this new lie and had immediately arranged details with his solicitor, the Paris mansion was put up for sale, Maître Dubois would continue to administer the Mersac properties from afar while Yannick and his family would retire to Cornwall borrowing his aunt’s name.  
Yannick’s hopes that Rosemarkie would provide a safe haven for him and his family had been answered. He sometimes wondered about Mersac, what was the castle like now. He had given an order for money to be spent on immediately needed repairs, but not as much as was necessary to restore the place to its former glory, and he was feeling somewhat guilty about that. It was not that he was lacking money, the sale of the Paris mansion had made him a rich man, in fact, his fortune was entirely due to uncle Pierre de Mersac’s bequest. Uncle Pierre had loved his castle and had bequeathed it to him, he felt that he should have taken better care of it, he had spent far more money on Rosemarkie manor than on Mersac castle.

He had not spoken about his intentions to visit his father to Anne-Laure and Alex. The opportunity had not risen, too many guests in the house for a start. Richard, Amber, Thomas, Alicia, and their children returned to Falmouth 2 days after Meredith’s party and so it made it easier for Yannick to have a word with Laure and Alex about it. He knew that Ethan had written to his colleague on the morning after they had spoken about the possible journey, he had not heard yet, but it was too early to start worrying that the proposition had not been accepted.  
Anne-Laure agreed that it was the right thing to do. If only for Anna and Louis’s sake. She had had a letter from Louis saying that their father was in a bad way at Térouanne and that his mother wanted to remain by his side until he got better or passed away. They had been there for nearly one month now. Anne-Laure found it difficult to believe that Anna could remain at this man’s side knowing what he was guilty of. Louis had told his sister that he only stayed for his mother’s sake.

‘Anna is taking her marriage vows too seriously,’ said Anne-Laure angrily, ‘I would never stand by my husband if he behaved in such a way.’  
Alex had smiled mischievously. ‘Halas, young women today, they don’t have the fortitude that their mothers had!’  
‘I don’t know about other women, but I know I haven’t. In fact, if you’d shamed me the way he shamed poor Anna, I would have scratched your eyes out!’  
‘Ouch!’ Laughed Alex, ‘seriously though, my love, I can’t possibly go to France for a few weeks at the moment. I have to get back to London to see to the deeds on the Cumbria house and the Plymouth one. What are you doing about your children, Yannick, are you taking them with you?’  
‘It’s not ideal to do so, I don’t know what I will find once I am at Térouanne, the trouble is, I’ll have a revolution on my hands if I don’t. That’s where my lax education methods show their flaws. I should be able to just tell them to stay here without fearing a strong resistance.’  
Anne-Laure remained quiet for a while, then she said, looking at her husband, ‘I think I’d like to go, Alex. But not with Max and Angie, Max must return to college and it would be unfair to take Angie and not him as well, besides, I don’t know how I will react if I see that what father is really doing is blackmailing Anna to stay with him.’  
‘They can come back to London with me, they need not know where you are going nor that Charley and Meredith will be going. What about Nick? Will you take the young one too? And how will you cross, by packet? Perseus is not due back for one month at the best of time.’  
‘Taking the packet will mean long days of travelling both by land and by sea, I thought of taking the cutter instead; we could land near Térouanne, at Dielette. It’s not a long crossing, Meredith and Charley can help me handle her. I thought of taking Nick, yes, also Miss Leary, Mary, and John,’ he paused, ‘and Ethan,’ he paused again, ‘there’s another thing, I’d like to go to Mersac also. I hope Louis and Anna will join our party and we would either return together with the cutter or some of us could return on board Perseus.’  
Anne-Laure looked doubtful. ‘Miss Leary has dreadful seasickness; I doubt she’d like to coast down all the way from Normandy to Bordeaux in a cutter if you mean to continue down the coast with it. The crossing from England to France would be bad enough for her. Why do you want to take her with you?’  
Yannick hesitated, ‘she is a good friend of Anna. If anyone can convince her, I think it will be Abigail. Also, she helps in our wine trade and might want to see where it all comes from.’  
Anne-Laure nodded, ‘make sense,’ she said, ‘she is extremely fond of Anna, isn’t she?’  
‘And Anna is of her, I believe,’ answered her brother.  
‘You know, crossing with your cutter is one thing, but what about accommodation once in France? The area where you propose to land has no large towns, we will need a carriage and accommodation. We stayed at a Posting inn near Térouanne in 1815, it was the only one in the area and I am not certain that they could accommodate a party of 6 adults and 3 children.’  
Yannick frowned, ‘I had not thought of that. I imagined us renting a coach at Dielette and sleeping at Térouanne. The house is large enough.’  
‘But unfurnished, I doubt father spent money on furniture, and I am not sure you’ll be able to rent a coach in Dielette either, it’s only a small fishing village, you know.’  
‘I suppose Anna and Louis are staying at the house, there must be beds for them.’  
Anne-Laure looked thoughtful, ‘look, I think that just the 2 of us should go,’ she saw Yannick’s face crispation and she added, ‘with Ethan too. He would be useful as a physician to examine father, but I think that we should take no-one else. Take some sailors to man your boat and wait for us at Dielette. If there’s only 3 of us, we could find transport more easily to get to Térouanne. I am not a precious lady who needs her comfort all the time. When we have settled things at the house, we can sail back with Anna and Louis. The whole trip could be done well within a week. I know you’d like to get to Mersac and I must say, I’d like to go there too, but we can wait for Perseus’s return and sail comfortably with her at a later date. Then we could all go together.’

They had been talking in the drawing room after the light lunch. Sir Selwyn who had taken a turn in the gardens after lunch joined them there, ready for a cup of tea. He caught Anne-Laure’s last words about going somewhere and said to her smiling. ‘Are you planning your next holiday, Milady?’  
Yannick answered with a smile: ‘Seems that we are planning 2 trips, sir, and I am discovering that my sister is a practical and resourceful lady.’  
Sir Selwyn laughed. ‘Most women are, I found that very soon after my marriage. Tell me if I can be of some help to you.’  
Yannick exchanged a look with Anne-Laure, why not tell the older man of their plan. They did although Yannick did not mention the underlying reason for the trip, only that their father was reportedly very sick. It very conveniently explained why Ethan was going with the siblings. Sir Selwyn agreed that Anne-Laure’s plan was the best one.   
‘I could remain here if you like and help Miss Leary keep eyes on Charley, Meredith, and Nick while you’re away.’  
‘That would be ideal,’ answered Yannick, ‘I hope we’ll get news from Ethan soon; I’m rather looking forward to going now.’  
‘I am sure you’ll be the first one to know when he does,’ replied Anne-Laure, tongue-in-cheek.

In his letter to his colleague, Ethan had told him that if he agreed to come to Porthdowns, he could do so as soon as he wished. He had not counted on the man’s arrival instead of a reply letter. He was therefore both surprised and delighted to find Dr. Nathaniel Hawkins and Mrs. Katherine Hawkins on his doorstep only a few days following the discussion Yannick had with his sister about their travelling plan.   
Dr. and Mrs. Hawkins were given the spare bedroom in the lodge. Katherine took one look at the view of the bay from the window and declared that this was the place where she wanted to bring up her child. Nathaniel was besotted with his young wife, if she wished to spend the next few months in Porthdowns then it was fine with him.   
Things were now moving very quickly. The replacement doctor’s arrival meant that they could leave for France very soon. Ethan spent the next day with Nathaniel, introducing him at the manor, then he took him to the village before going to the tin mine. They did not have time to go to the clay works, Jonathan would take him there. Yannick and Anne-Laure had agreed to leave with the tide in 2 days-time. 4 fishermen were recruited to man the cutter, they started to prepare the craft immediately for the crossing. Anne-Laure directed her maid to prepare her bag, she would travel light she said.   
Charley and Meredith’s reaction, when told of the planned journey, surprised Yannick. He had expected a long battle to explain his decision to leave them behind at the manor when in fact they accepted it without any argument. He confided to his sister that he had been nearly disappointed. Laure had laughed, ‘your children are growing up, they can understand a good argument first time,’ she said, ‘also, sorry, my dear, but they don’t need you as much now.’ She was so right.   
In the end, the plan was slightly altered again. Because they would only be away for one week at the most, Alex decided that he could come with his wife after all and leave Max and Angie at Rosemarkie, they should be back before term started at college, Max would not miss his first day at school. Alex had written to the owner of the house in Plymouth and had arranged for money to be transferred to secure the purchase ahead of the deeds being signed. Sir Selwyn had agreed that he could manage to keep an eye on 2 more children, besides there were enough servants at the manor to ensure that they would be taken good care of without him having much to do at all


	14. Térouanne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laure and Yannick go back to their childhood home and Yannick faces his father.

Family and friends assembled on the pier the next day to wave ‘La mouette’ away as it sailed gracefully towards the high sea.   
She landed in Dielette in the afternoon of the second day after leaving Porthdowns. Alex and Yannick had thoroughly enjoyed the crossing, Alex had already been impressed by the fast-little craft when they had tried it last time they’d come to Porthdowns, now he fully appreciated it on the high seas, speeding towards the French coast. They shared the handling of the sails and the helm with the fishermen who had been surprised by the 2 aristocrats’ naval knowledge. Alex revealed his past in the navy, Yannick did not. Ethan and Anne-Laure just enjoyed the cruise, neither suffered from sea-sickness.

On arrival at Dielette, as foreseen by Anne-Laure, the only vehicle they found to carry them there was a cart drawn by an old horse. The price the owner demanded for the ride disgusted Yannick who had no choice but to pay. After he had said to their driver that their destination was Térouanne château, he saw one of the men there spit on the floor. He was sure that this name alone had doubled the price the man had thought of asking for the cart. The fact that ‘La mouette’ flew an English flag probably did not help either. Unfortunately, they did not have a choice, they needed transport. His father’s country house was not far from Dielette, and they could have walked but they had bags and did not fancy spending 2 hours getting there to maybe find that Anna and Louis were gone and the house closed.

Alex and Anne-Laure had not returned to Térouanne since their visit after the war when Laure had argued with her father regarding her mother’s tomb. She had thanked Yannick for his gesture when they had met again in London that summer which held so much joy and also so much pain for him. They both hoped that Valentin had kept to his words of not disturbing Charlotte’s last resting place.   
Brother and sister felt strange and apprehensive passing through the large gates and up the alley to reach the front door of the house. What were they going to find in this place? Childhood memories jumbled in both their heads as they alighted from the cart to walk silently toward the front door. Their driver immediately turned his cart around, leaving them there. Laure was holding Alex’s hand much tighter than she was aware of, he pretended not to notice. He would stand by her as always, ready for whatever ordeal she might have to face inside these walls. Yannick did not have the comfort of holding his beloved’s hand. Ethan and he could never afford affectionate gestures between them in public. He smiled mischievously though thinking of his father who might be watching their arrival in a peasant cart.  
His last visit to his childhood home had been in March 1814 after his ship had returned to France. He had managed to land in Normandy in January 1814. He had been lucky, very lucky indeed. A thick fog had protected his ship from the English squadron guarding the approach to the French coast and Danae had squeezed past in the dark undetected. He had rushed to Paris to deliver his logbooks and reports to find the capital in chaos. Battles were being fought on French soil now, Paris did not look safe. In March he had travelled to Térouanne, wanting to show his children where he grew up and to visit his mother’s tomb, as well as to put distance between them and the unrest and fights approaching Paris.

In January 1803 when he had returned to France after his successful cruise, he had met the first consul Bonaparte in Paris and, after revealing to him who his ancestors were, Napoléon had officially given him Térouanne. Valentin had been stripped of his rights because he had emigrated to England and not come back to pledge allegiance to the new ruler when the peace of Amiens had been signed.   
He remembered this visit well, he was in high spirits at the time; he had heard from aunty Henrietta and was planning to visit her in England, he had not yet met Julia. He had found the house in a dreadful state. It was during this visit that he had vandalised his own room and planned his mother’s memorial monument.

He hoped that the gardener he was still paying had kept his word and looked after his mother’s rose pergola. The gardens had not been restored to their formal glory of before the revolution. In fact, it looked as if Valentin had spent no money on the grounds whatsoever. They had passed empty and broken fountains and pools; the grass had changed the formal gardens into wild meadows.   
Their main worry was that Anna and Louis would not be at the house any longer and that therefore they would not be welcomed. They were not sure that beds would be available for them in that case or even that the door would be opened for them. Yannick realised a little late that he should have asked the cart driver to at least wait until they were inside before setting off back to Dielette.

A sour face butler opened the door and even before they uttered a word, he told them that the Duke did not receive visitors. The door had not been wide opened, and Yannick quickly put his foot inside before the butler closed it in his face.   
‘We are not visiting the duke,’ he said, ‘but Madame la duchesse and Monsieur le marquis.’   
The man hesitated, obviously, Anna and Louis were not used to receiving visitors. He begrudgingly invited them to enter the large hall of the house and asked them to wait there. He took the card Yannick handed to him, he glanced at the name, Ian Kermor was unknown to him of course. He went up the grand staircase, presumably to the large parlour on the first floor. Yannick exchanged a smile with his sister. ‘Vanity,’ he said, ‘trust him to restore the grand parlour to show off in case he has visitors.’  
‘Do you know,’ replied Laure, ‘I don’t think I’ve been in that room more than half a dozen times while I lived here,’ she explained to Alex and Ethan. ‘It was strictly out of bound for us children while our parents were not living in the house, and even when they were, we were seldom allowed in.’  
Ethan had been admiring the grand staircase and the paintings on the high ceiling.   
‘At least, they were spared from the revolutionaries,’ remarked Yannick, ‘too high to be defaced, thank goodness. I used to think them ugly when I was a child, now I can see that they are quite beautiful.’  
The butler reappeared on top of the stairs and made his way down.  
‘Madame la Duchesse and Monsieur le Marquis will receive you,’ he said pompously, ‘please follow me.’  
At the top of the stairs, the butler did not open the door of the parlour, instead he continued down the corridor and opened a door that led to what the siblings knew was a small drawing room.   
‘Mama’s private drawing room.’ Exclaimed Laure in French.

The butler opened the door and looked at Laure with attention. He had not done so before. The 4 visitors were dressed very simply for travelling, and he had seen the cart they had arrived in, the man had not thought that they could be quality, he was reviewing his assumption now. Could this lady be the duchess’s daughter?  
They entered. Anna and Louis rushed to their visitors, they embraced each other, Anna held Laure in her arms, laughing and crying at the same time, muttering thanks to them. Louis asked for refreshments to be served, the butler bowed and walked out.  
Yannick explained their reason for coming to Térouanne. He told them of their doubts regarding his father’s real health condition and his true reasons for keeping them here.  
‘He will stop at nothing to keep you here. You and your money, of course. I thought he was living in Paris.’  
‘He was,’ sighed Anna, ‘but he got hurt there and thought that he was safer at Térouanne.’  
‘Safer from whom?’ Asked Anne-Laure.  
‘I may as well tell you straight off; he made a lot of debts, despite all the money he has taken out of the banks. Although he did not tell me, I guessed that he was beaten up by some men paid to teach him a lesson. He got frightened and had himself carried here to escape further assaults. One of the men he owes money to has the reputation for doing this kind of thing of his debtors. I have paid his immediate debts, selling jewellery, but in return, I have told him that I wanted the Paris house sold to pay for the rest of what he owes, which will cover his debts and leave him plenty enough to live on. It’s my main reason for staying here, I have insisted on being present when he meets his lawyer regarding the sale. He has done his best to stall me, but after I threatened to ask for a divorce, publishing the reasons for it, he has done as I asked. There is actually one potential buyer for the house, it should not be too long now for the sale to be completed. It was true that he was very ill after his attack, he is paralysed from the waist down and one of his arms is badly broken. The pain and the handicap have not helped his temper as you can imagine, especially because he knows that he will now be forced to live here for the rest of his life.’  
Yannick burst out laughing. ‘Dear me, Anna, we came here to rescue you and Louis because we thought that he had managed somehow to influence your tender hearts and we are finding out that it’s just the opposite, it’s you who has all the trump cards in your hands. Has he made you lose a lot of money though?’  
‘He has. The business is now very short of cash, it’s lucky that it was not easy for him to sell the different ventures or he would have done it, anything rather than to lose his Paris house. I’ve made him sign a promise that he would not attempt selling any assets and compromise his son’s inheritance. Now that you are reassured about our wellbeing, I hope you’ll understand that we cannot go back to England with you. I need to make sure the sale is completed, and every debt paid before I leave. I cannot risk him either cancelling the sale or not paying the debts as soon as my back is turned and keeping the monies for himself instead. At least he will have Térouanne and its land, it will bring enough money for him to live his last days decently which is more than he deserves really.’  
‘How long can you stay,’ asked Louis to the visitors, ‘are you going to see him? we must warn you the butler is devoted to him, he won’t do anything against his master’s orders and I am not sure that father will wish to see either of you. He thinks that our change of heart toward him is entirely your fault.’  
Anne-Laure shrugged. ‘It has to be someone else’s fault, of course. He probably also blamed his mistress for falling pregnant and therefore forcing him to seek pleasure with her young son instead.’  
Ethan let out a horrified gasp and Yannick realised that he had not told him of the reason why Anna and Valentin had become estranged. He squeezed his hand gently, he did not wish to retell the story in front of Anna and Louis right now, they had suffered enough. He saw that Laure was regretting her words. Anna smiled at her kindly.   
‘It’s all right, you know, since my eyes were fully opened, I have moved on. The most important thing is that I have kept your love and Louis’s and found a lovely step-son on top of it all.’  
Laure kissed her, ‘you are such a good person, Anna,’ she laughed, ‘you know when you married father, I was quite worried. I mean in children’s stories, it’s always the step-mother who is evil and the father who is good. I never expected it that it could be the other round!’  
They all laughed. It felt good to be together, even in this place, knowing who was lying in his bed on the floor above them. He could not hurt them any longer, each one of them felt it in their bones.

The butler entered the drawing room and announced that dinner was ready to be served for Madame la Duchesse and Monsieur le Marquis. He added that he would accompany the visitors to the door.   
‘Did you take the initiative or are you following my husband’s orders?’ Anna asked haughtily.  
‘I follow Monsieur le Duc’s orders, Madame.’  
Yannick stood up and faced the man with an ironic smile on his face, ‘and what are you going to do if we decide to stay?’  
The butler frowned, ‘Sir, you have to leave.’  
‘And we are not. We shall have dinner with the duchess and the marquess and we shall spend the night here, whether the duke likes it or not. Pray tell me how you are going to prevent this?’  
The man looked flustered. He had good reasons to be too. He was alone and facing 4 determined young men. He gave up lamely. ‘I can’t, sir, of course, I can’t. But dinner has only be prepared for 2,’ he added the last sentence helplessly.  
‘That’s all right, don’t you worry about this,’ Yannick looked at his family, ‘I’ll join you in the dining room in a moment.’ And he made his way out of the room.   
Laure caught up with him, ‘I’ll help you,’ she winked, ‘we’ve done this before, and we did it together remember,’ they nodded to each other with a conspirator look in their eyes, remembering the time when they had sneaked into the kitchen at night to steal food after being sent to bed without dinner for mischief.  
The butler watched them with disbelief in his eyes as they opened the hidden door leading to the service staircase. It would take them directly to the basement and the kitchen. He regained his composure and led the duchess and her guests to the dining room downstairs.  
In the kitchen, Yannick and Anne-Laure’s sudden arrival through the service entrance caused a little stir. There were only 4 people there, one was obviously the cook, standing near the stove, next to her, a younger girl was standing with her mouth open gapping at the visitors. The third person was a footman, he was setting dishes onto a tray. The fourth person was Anna’s maid who knew Laure and Yannick and curtsied to them. Yannick gave them all his most charming smile and greeted them warmly before adding.   
‘Don’t bother yourselves with us, we shall help ourselves.’   
He walked to the pantry and to the cook’s horror, he picked up a few things he handed to Laure. She had quickly found a basket and she filled it with the food her brother was passing on to her. There was a large freshly baked loaf of bread, different kinds of cheeses, a cooked ham on the bone, a meat pie, and pâté. Laure’s basket was soon full to the brim. Yannick picked up a tray and he put sweet pastries and fruit on it.   
‘I’ll need to come back for wine, ’he said to his sister. The butler who had just walked into the kitchen sighed, ‘I’ll bring it up, sir,’ he said, resigned.  
In the dining room, they were applauded for their efforts, the food was dished out on the table, Anna got plates and cutlery out of the dresser; just as she was getting the glasses out, the butler walked in with 4 bottles of wine, red and white, followed by the footman carrying Anna and Louis’s dinner. Anna thanked them and asked the butler about beds for the night.  
‘Unfortunately, madam, there is only one other room with a bed for 2 in the house,’ he stopped and proposed, ‘unless you wish to use the servants’ bedrooms.’  
Yannick looked at the man. ‘We will not take your beds,’ he looked at Anna, ‘Laure and Alex could have the room, and, Anna, if you don’t mind, Ethan and I could make do with sofas in the drawing room or in the parlour?’ He looked at Ethan as he talked and got an approving nod in response.  
Anna nodded. ‘There are large sofas in the parlour. By all means, you can have them if you wish. I don’t know how comfortable they will be to sleep on though.’  
‘I am sure it will be fine,’ he turned back to the butler, ‘there, all settled then.’ The butler bowed and withdrew.

It was an unconventional meal and they thoroughly enjoyed it. Yannick and Laure, probably inspired by the place, recalled some happy times of their childhood. With their parents gone for 10 months every year, they had been free of constraints for most of the time. They’d had a tutor and a governess to give them lessons of course, but when they were not in the classroom, they were able to roam the large estate on their own. When together they often got into mischief, prompted by one or the other getting the idea for a scheme which got them into trouble.   
Laure did not go with her brother on sailing trips, her governess had drummed into her early on that it was not an activity suitable for young ladies. She regretted it now, especially after she discovered how much pleasure Charley got out of it. So, when her brother was away, she spent her time practicing her piano for hours. She was an excellent player; she had met Alex during a party in London after she had been asked to perform. He had been in another room when she had started to play, and the music had attracted him to come and listen. Once he had set his eyes on the lovely girl whose hands were flying effortlessly on the keys, he had been enthralled by her and still was, some 18 years later.

It was very late when they went up to bed. Anna and Louis made their way up to the second floor, in the guest wing of the house and it was also in that wing that Alex and Laure would sleep. Anna had told the siblings that their father had his own room redecorated in the family wing, no other. The other family bedrooms were in the same bad state of repair they had been when they had last seen them.   
Yannick and Ethan entered the large reception parlour. This room had been restored to its former glory and was furnished with several large sofas. The lovers pulled 2 of them closer together so that they could see each other and talk without shouting from one side of the room to the other. The butler surprised them again by bringing blankets. He was accompanied by Anna’s maid who made beds up for them arranging blankets and pillows with expertise. The man seemed to have mellowed in the few hours since they had arrived. He had probably come to terms with the fact that as he could not stop the guests staying, he might as well stop being stupidly obstructive. He had noticed that the duchess and the marquess definitely held power over the duke and that it was not in his interest to cross them.  
They spent a reasonably good night's sleep. The sofas were large and new and therefore comfortable. Yannick woke up first according to his old habit and went to look at the sun rising through the window. He had half expected to wake up with nightmares, being in this house, but he had not. He thought that it was due to Ethan’s reassuring presence by his side. He had not been able to stop himself listening for noises before he fell asleep. But there were none. The servants had retired before they did, and the rest of the family was on the floor above them, and far away on the other side of the house.   
He stood there for a long while, pondering about the day ahead. He planned to walk up with Ethan to his mother’s grave this morning and then he would face his father. He had told Laure last night that he wished to face him alone. After he had glimpsed a worried look in her eyes, he had jokingly said that he did not intend to put a pillow over his face.   
He had no idea how he was going to react to seeing again the man who had spoilt his childhood and was the cause of his mother’s early death. He was also aware that his life would have been very different without the hateful attitude his father had had towards him. He let out a deep sigh. Conflicting thoughts disturbing his mind. The truth was that he liked his life. He would not change any of the things that had happened to him at all. Every heartache he had suffered had had its silver lining. His father had abandoned him in France at the height of the revolution but if he had not done so, his successful career in the French navy would not have happened. He would not have met Julia and Alexis and even if these love stories had not lasted, they had given him Charley and Nicky.  
He could not imagine his life without Charley and Nicky. And what of Hadrian and Ethan? And Camille even? He shook his head ruefully; he did not want to think about this. He snorted, where was he going with these thoughts! In a minute he was going to thank his father if he continued!  
‘Ian? Are you all right?’ Ethan’s voice brought him back to his senses.   
‘I’m fine, yes, just some crazy thoughts in my head.’   
He hesitated, then walked to Ethan’s makeshift bed and sat down next to him. Then he told him what had gone through his mind. Ethan listened. He did not speak for a long while when Yannick finished expressing his thoughts, then he shrugged helplessly.   
‘I don’t have the answers. I don’t know how I would feel. Go and see him anyway, that’s why you came here; pay attention to your feelings when you face him. I am sorry I wish I could help better.’  
‘You are helping by being here. Let’s go down and see if there’s some food left from last night for our breakfast and I’ll take you to my mother.’  
It was very early in the day and as expected, they were alone in the dining room. There was a hot coffee pot on a small stove and a fresh bread loaf, a pat of butter, and a dish of jam on the table. They helped themselves to food and drink. Because of the early hour, Yannick had not expected fresh food to be already laid down at this time. The servants must be up since dawn. They enjoyed their food then left the room and made their way outside. It was going to be a nice day again, such a contrast with the last 2 dismal summers they’d had.   
They walked around the back of the house and up the gentle slope behind it underneath the rose-covered arches of the pergola until they reached the top. The white marble sanctuary was as he remembered. Ethan looked at the bust in the middle of the temple. The beautiful face was serene, no one could have guessed the pain this lovely woman suffered throughout her loveless marriage by looking at her. Ethan had read the letters she had written, and he felt strangely close to her. Was it because he loved her son so much? Or was it because of her words? He did not know. A little bit of both most likely. He turned towards Yannick and kissed him deeply. It felt the right thing to do. They held each other for a few minutes before sitting down on the bench holding hands and admiring the view.   
‘I sat on this bench with Charley and Meredith last time I came, you know. They gave me a kiss too,’ he laughed, ‘I should come more often!’  
‘Are you implying that I don’t kiss you enough?’ Ethan said with mock indignation in his voice.  
‘I never have enough of your kisses,’ was the serious reply; Ethan kissed him again, longer and more passionately this time, so much so that Yannick had to break it gently moaning, ‘please stop, that’s unfair teasing, we haven’t made love for days.’  
‘No, and we’re not going to for the foreseeable future as far as I can see,’ added Ethan sadly and Yannick groaned, he continued remorseless, ‘it’s going to be a problem, with Nathaniel staying at the lodge.’  
‘We’ll find a way because I will not be able to wait until we sail for Mersac to be intimate with you again.’  
Ethan grinned. ‘The couch in your drawing room at Rosemarkie was a lot smaller than the one in the parlour, you know…’  
Yannick laughed and kissed Ethan’s lips lightly. Ethan blushed when he told him how he had felt looking at the couch the night he had watched over him with Charley and Meredith. Yannick laughed again, and this time Ethan joined him.

They walked back to the house hand in hand until they got in view of the kitchen door and windows. In the dining room, they found the rest of the family eating breakfast. Yannick informed his sister that he was going to go up and see his father this morning. May as well get it over with, he said. Then they should decide how long they’d like to stay in Térouanne. They had not discussed it before because they wanted to know Anna and Louis’s feelings about it. Alex recalled that they had mentioned one week at the most.   
Anna put her hand on Laure’s, ‘I am fine here you know, and I will only stay as long as the business is concluded. I want to go to Mersac with all of you, see where this nice wine comes from, and preferably, I’d like to go before this year is over. So, don’t feel that you have to stay here, I know there’s not much to do and very little comfort especially for Ian and Ethan. If you wish to go home as soon as tomorrow, it’s fine by me.’  
They looked at each other and came to agree that tomorrow would be a good time to leave. They detected sadness in Louis’s eyes, the young man was probably bored to death in this big empty house with only his mother for company. He had spent his days walking in the countryside and down to Dielette thanks to the good weather, but with autumn looming and shorter days he was dreading spending more time here. Anna watched her dear son carefully and said:  
‘Why don’t you take Louis back with you? I don’t think the air here is doing him any good and I’d like him to keep a close eye on the business in London. Goodness knows what my managers are doing while I am far away.’  
Louis opened his mouth in protest, but his mother waved at him to stop. ‘If you stay, I am only going to worry about you. Don’t think that I have not seen your boredom and frustration. You have been a great help and comfort for me, and I thank you for staying here, but now all there is to do is wait for completion. Nothing more to work out.’  
Louis gave up easily. He knew that his mother enjoyed spending quiet time on her own reading or walking when the weather was nice. She had her maid to look after her too. Violet had been at her service for 15 years now and she was a resourceful woman who could be counted upon therefore he trusted that his mother would travel back safely to London when her affairs in Térouanne were completed.

With breakfast over with, Yannick made his way upstairs to face his father. He had told the butler to warn the duke that he was going to receive a visit.   
The butler’s curiosity had been aroused after he had worked out that this Mr. Kermor and the lady who accompanied him were brother and sister to Monsieur le marquis. Their obvious knowledge of the house and the grounds made him suspect that they had probably lived here in the past and also that they were older children of the duke, although he had never mentioned their existence. There were a lot of mysteries around the duke.   
The butler had started at his service at Térouanne in 1815. He had been recruited in Paris and he had accepted the position because he was getting old and wished to live an easier life than the ones he’d had in the capital. Térouanne had been very quiet, he had basically looked after an empty house for months until the master had arrived, badly wounded and accompanied by the duchess who was a woman with, he realised, a grudge towards her husband.   
He knew from hearsay that the house and lands had been given to Rear Admiral Mersac by Napoléon before being restored to the duke by the king. He had found out from the gardener that the admiral still paid for him to care for the former duchess’s tomb upon the rise. The admiral’s link with the former duchess must therefore be very strong. The butler could not put 2 and 2 together though and the arrival of this Mr. Kermor did not help. If he was the duke’s son, why did he not call himself de Courcelles, and as he was obviously older than Monsieur Louis, should he not be called Marquis de Térouanne and Monsieur Louis, only Monsieur le Comte? It was all very confusing…unless of course, Mr. Kermor was a by-blow of the duke after all his grace had quite a reputation in Paris for enjoying the company of young ladies…  
Anyway, he bowed deeply to the duke and informed him that Mr. Kermor wished to come and talk to him. He was surprised by the look of fear he saw in the eyes of the sick man. The duke was an aggressive and arrogant man, both in words and manners. He had a stick by the side of his bed which was always within reach of his right hand, the only one he could use since his accident, and he frequently waved it at his valet or at servants if they did not do exactly as he wanted. He had once caught a young maid on the side of her head because a spoon had slid off a tray and had dropped to the floor. The girl had suffered a large bruise and since this day had been nearly in tears every time she’d been told to go to his bedroom.

The duke did not acknowledge that he’d heard his butler’s words, his breathing was now uneven, and the butler was at a loss of what to do. The duke had not given him permission to introduce the guest or forbid him to do so either. He waited for a few moments and suddenly, the door opened, and Mr. Kermor entered. The butler already knew that he was no match for the strong much younger man who barged into the room. He nevertheless decided to remain and bring what little help he could to the duke who was after all paralysed and obviously frightened of his unwanted guest.  
Yannick had waited for several minutes outside his father’s door and had grown impatient at the wait. He knew he was going to enter the bedroom anyway so why delay? He opened the door brutally. The butler had a worried and stupefied look on his face and his father… well, Yannick had not known what to expect, but he was shocked nevertheless by the sight of the old sick and terrified man lying down on the bed.   
He had not known how he would feel, so many conflicting emotions kept pulling at his heartstrings since he’d walked in this house again, and now looking down at this helpless and diminished man, he realised he felt nothing at all. No hate, no resentment, no wish for vengeance, no desire to be loved by him either. Nothing, total indifference instead. It made him laugh. He laughed with relief as the dark cloud over him lifted.   
He was happy, loved and he loved in return and this man meant nothing to him.  
His joyous laugh dismayed the two men in the room. The butler was offended, how could a guest laugh at an invalid. His father forgot his fear and found his voice.   
‘Get out, I don’t need you gloating,’ the old arrogant and angry look Yannick knew so well was back on his face, it calmed him down a little, his eyes still filled with merriment.   
‘I’ll get out when I decide.’ He approached the bed. His father had got hold of his stick and was holding it menacingly toward him. Yannick shook his head, amused, ‘what are you hoping to do with that?’ And he caught the stick and wrenched it off the old man’s hands. He saw the fear return in his eyes. He took the stick and broke it in half before throwing it in the fire.   
‘There, that’s done. I dreamed of doing this all through my boyhood. You don’t look so arrogant without it. Maybe that’s all it took, take the bully’s weapon away. Anyway, I’ll not keep you any longer, father. I have found out what I wanted.’ With those words, he turned around, bowed to the butler, winked at his stunned expression, and left the room. As he was closing the door, he heard his father scream. ‘Get out,’ at the butler.  
The landing was crowded. And each one of them had a worried look on his face.   
‘All sorted.’ He smiled.   
The door re-opened and the butler came out, looking relieved to be back on the landing. Yannick smiled at him. ‘You shouldn’t worry, he needs you, can’t do anything without you and he knows it.’ He looked at Laure. ‘Did you want to see him now? Make the most of it, he has lost his stick. Sorry, but I couldn’t do anything about his tongue though.’  
Laure shrugged. ‘I can put up with that. Yes, I’ll see him now. I’ll just say good-bye, Alex will you come in with me please?’ Alex nodded and opened the door to let his wife go in.  
The rest of them made their way downstairs. In the drawing room, sitting down with a cup of strong coffee in his hand, Yannick explained what had happened. They had heard him laugh, he tried to explain, couldn’t quite do it. His smiling eyes spoke for him. Ethan was reassured, and all was well.   
Anne-Laure had said that she only wanted to say good-bye to her father. She needed to do it because for all his villainies she could not forget that he had kept her safe during the terrible years they’d spent in Paris during the revolution and that she had lacked for nothing later in London. He had loved her in his own way, she was sure of it. She found him in a worst condition that she had thought, and Yannick’s visit had visibly shaken him. He looked at her sadly and said.   
‘I can see my father in his features. Why did I not see it before? Why, Laure, why?’   
She wanted to say, ‘because you never really looked at him, never saw further than his dark hair and green eyes,’ but she did not, there was no point, it was history. Valentin now had the same look he’d had the day he discovered, after meeting his cousins in London in 1815, that the green-eyes and black hair colouring had sprung from his own mother’s side of the family after all. He had fought against the idea then and now, 28 years after he had last seen his son, he could not dispute the evidence any longer. Yannick's resemblance with his own father was too much to be dismissed. In the spell of a few moments between the visits of his son and of his daughter, Valentin realised what a mess he had done with his life.  
He had looked at his daughter with desperation in his eyes and she had not been able to bear it. She had not said a word, she had taken his hand and squeezed it, then after giving him a quick kiss on the brow she had left the room, followed by her husband.

She chose to walk up to her mother’s tomb instead of joining the others in the drawing room. She needed to think and talk to Alex. He would help her decipher the conflicting feelings in her heart. He listened to her pouring her heart out, talking of the happiness her father brought her in childhood, of the guilt she now felt, oblivious at the time, of how unhappy her brother and her mother had been. She did not know how she felt about him. Anger certainly, and pity also because she was a kind person.  
They reached the bench overseeing the countryside with a glimpse of the sea far away and they sat down. Alex was still holding her hand, she realised that she had not stopped talking since they walked out of the house. She recalled many small incidents she had not noticed at the time and she finished telling him how guilty she felt about refusing to write to Yannick from Paris because of rumours concerning him.  
Her father’s bad behaviour was not rumour; it was a fact, and yet she had taken pity on him just now, and even kissed him goodbye; how could she do this after she had refused to listen to her brother knowing how he had been treated in his childhood?   
‘I need to ask Yannick for his forgiveness,’ she said at last, ‘I never did.’  
Alex brought her hand to his lips. ‘His attitude towards you shows that he has forgiven. Perhaps though a real heart to heart conversation with him would help you both.’ She nodded, and she put her head on his shoulder, ‘hold me, please,’ she whispered, and he did.  
By the time they had walked back to the house, it was time for lunch. This time they did not have to rummage in the kitchen to find some food, Anna had given orders and a nice meal was served in the dining room. Louis had not visited his father this morning, he told them that he would say his goodbyes later in the afternoon. Laure and Yannick understood immediately that he was not in a forgiving mood regarding his father. He could not get past the memories of his mother’s despair and shame when his father’s mistress had called at their house in London and had revealed his wrongdoings, shouting in the entrance hall of the house with servants within earshot. Yannick had believed Louis to be soft-hearted and forgiving, he had it all wrong, the only reason he was staying at Térouanne was to give moral support to his mother.

They ate their lunch quietly, each deep in his or her thoughts. Afterwards, Louis and Anna settled around the table to talk about the business, Anna wanted to give her recommendations to her son, she wanted to study the possibilities of having Perseus dock in London instead of Falmouth because it was clear that the quantity of wine which would sell in London would far outweigh the quantity sold in Cornwall and the Wet counties. Yannick did not object, Perseus could start offloading in London first then made her way along the coast after to dock in Charlestown and pick up the clay from there. Mother and son were soon deep in conversation about paperwork, customs and excise, and other things that Yannick knew very little about and to be honest, was not interested in.   
Alex stifled a yawn and was relieved when Yannick suggested a little exercise to him. Laure frowned when Alex got up a bit too eagerly for her liking. She watched the 2 men disappear from view with a pang of envy, wondering what exercise Yannick had in mind. She was surprised that her brother had not extended the invitation to Ethan who was comfortably settled in an armchair with a book he had brought from England. Ethan did not seem bothered in the least.  
Eventually, Laure decided to go out and see where Yannick had taken Alex for their exercise. She did not have to go far. As soon as she passed the back door, she heard the unmistakable sound of blades and voices; Yannick and Alex were sparring and thoroughly enjoying themselves. She watched them for a while then made her way back to the drawing room.  
Ethan watched her and smiled. ‘They’re fencing?’ He asked.   
‘Yes, I did not even notice they brought swords,’ she replied.   
‘Swords, pistols, too,’ said Ethan, ‘in case of trouble on the road or even at sea. Yannick never goes very far without being armed, he keeps it discreet most of the time.’   
Laure nodded, ‘I understand, roads are far from safe.’ She looked towards Anna still concentrating on whatever it was she was showing Louis. ‘Should we really let her go home on her own?’   
Laure had whispered the words, but Anna answered. ‘I won’t be alone, dear, I have my maid, 2 coachmen, and a groom, every one of them armed with pistols. And that includes my maid and me. We will be fine, don’t you worry. Also, I have been thinking, there is little point in me going back to London first, I will make my way to Mersac from here, it will cut travelling time and we can be reunited there.’ Laure understood that Anna would not be moved on the matter, so she gave up, besides she did not want to give Louis reasons to feel guilty or have second thoughts on the matter.  
The afternoon dragged on; Laure went on a complete tour of the house. She lingered most in her childhood room, regretting that all her toys had been stolen or broken. She peeped into Yannick’s room, she knew he had not returned there this time; somehow, she felt unable to enter, knowing what had happened there some nights while she was sleeping, blissfully unaware of the horrors her brother was subjected to.   
She visited the rest of the house and went back to the drawing room where she found her husband and her brother chatting with Louis and trying to convince him of the benefit of fencing. She knew that they would not gain him to their cause. Louis had been taught of course, like every young man of his class and he found no pleasure in it. His master at arms had finally given up and had told his father that he would never make a good swordsman, not even a passable one at that. Valentin had been disappointed; he was himself rather good with a blade and could not understand Louis’s lack of interest. Valentin would no doubt have thoroughly enjoyed watching the brothers-in-law’s bout in the garden. She wondered if he had heard them from his bedroom which was on the side of the garden where they’d fought. Another pleasure he would never again enjoy in his life.

She suggested a walk up to their mother’s tomb to Yannick. He readily agreed, and they walked out arm in arm, promising to be back in time to change for dinner. Laure talked to him about Anna’s decision to go to Mersac from here and he approved although he was not sure about accommodation in the castle.   
‘She will probably have to take rooms in an inn, I am not sure what accommodation can be provided in the old place.’  
‘It’s a real castle is it?’  
‘Oh yes, complete with towers and battlements, and ghosts, of course. Most of it in ruins; you see the castle has been slowly deteriorating over the last 60 odd years. Grandma Amélie stopped living in the place after marrying our father’s father and her eldest son, uncle Pierre, did not live there much, he spent more time either at Térouanne or at Versailles after he left the navy. Then, the revolutionaries stole everything they could carry, including the wine casks of course as well as setting one wing on fire. The steward who had been appointed by uncle Pierre continued to look after the business, the winemaking provided jobs to the villagers, it was in everybody’s interest to keep working, but the castle stayed closed and uninhabited. The steward has died now, his successor was his secretary and I understand that he is doing a good job. The steward had made sure that the outbuildings which house the winemaking and the wine cellars are in good condition and I ordered that the family living quarters of the castle be restored after my last visit in 1814, but I don’t know how much has been achieved. I did not put pressure on the man because I did not expect to visit so soon.’  
‘I did not ask, but what if Anna sells more wine than what you have to sell?’  
‘No risk of that, the cellars are full. Very little was sold outside the area throughout the revolution and empire. Uncle Pierre provided for queen Marie-Antoinette before the revolution, so as you can imagine, his wine was not popular afterwards. The wine has been maturing very nicely for years and is ready to be sold, so I understand. They are also producing an excellent brandy, you know. The money comes mostly from land exploitation, crops other than grapes, livestock, forests, and other things. It is a rich estate, far richer than Rosemarkie.’  
‘I thought the money you poured into your English estate came from prize money. It was rumoured that your ship was loaded with treasures.’  
Yannick laughed. ‘It was, yes. Unfortunately, the French navy has never paid prize money to its sailors as it’s done in England. I would have had to be a privateer to get a cut of what I brought back. Still, I will not pretend that I did not make money in India. I spent most of my pay buying precious gems at prices you would not believe. And I did buy a lot of them. I also admit that the rajah gave me some as personal gifts and that these did not go into Napoleon’s coffers. But I did not need to sell these stones to invest in Rosemarkie. I sold uncle Pierre’s Paris house instead; it was not looted during the revolution, Maître Dubois rented it during the Empire, and I lived in it for a few months before I moved to England. It was a beautiful house, ideally situated and it sold very quickly for a very high price.’  
‘Well, I am quite impatient to see this castle of yours, and of course of meeting ghosts. Angie and Max are enthusiastic about going, Charley and Meredith have convinced them that there are ghosts at Mersac. You will disappoint them if we stay in an inn.’  
‘Probably, but I am getting too old to sleep in draughty cold rooms, I like my comfort.’  
‘By the way, are you comfortable in the parlour?’  
‘Yes, thanks. The sofas are comfortable, and Anna’s maid has given us far more blankets and pillows than we really need. It’s strange sleeping in there though. I remember glimpses of it, always full of glittering people, most of them probably did not survive the revolution. We must count ourselves lucky, our fate could have been much worse.’  
‘Always looking on the bright side, aren’t you? I suppose that it’s why you survived. Don’t tell me that you did not come out unscathed though.’  
‘Of course not. Some things hurt more than others. I am glad I came and saw him one last time. I feel nothing for him, I can happily get on with my life without thinking of him. What about you? I know he loved you, probably still does.’  
‘I know. He was good to me in Paris during the troubles, then in London; he made sure that I lacked for nothing. If it had not been for me, I don’t think he would have put up with living with aunty Henrietta.’ Laure laughed. ‘She was a real terror, you know! Anyway, I will not strike him from my life for this reason, which does not mean that I will ever forgive him for what he did to you and to Anna.’ She stopped walking and watched her brother’s face intently, ‘what about you, Yannick, will you ever forgive me for the hurt I caused you?’  
She read the surprise in his eyes, he caressed her cheek lightly with the back of his fingers, his face serious, ‘Laurie, I am sorry if my attitude has caused you to doubt that I did not forgive you. I did, I forgave you the first time you asked, at your house. Maybe I did not say it clearly because the circumstances were difficult. As soon as you told me that you accepted that I was telling you the truth about my relationship with Alexis, I forgave you. Don’t trouble yourself over this. While we are evoking difficult subjects, I must thank you for your kindness towards Ethan. I know that it is not easy for you to accept my relationship with him, it is not something I can explain, I don’t know why I feel the way I do, I just know that I will not give him up.’  
‘I can see that. Just as I can see how happy you are together. I have come to terms with the fact that I will never have a sister-in-law; I beg you to be careful, stay safe both of you. It is going to be more difficult with Dr. Hawkins living at the lodge with Ethan.’  
‘Yes, we have to find a way around this hurdle. I have no idea how long Dr. Hawkins will stay. Ethan has not said as much, but he has hinted that there is plenty enough work for 2 physicians on and around Porthdowns. If Hawkins wishes to stay, accommodation will have to be found and I think that a cottage won’t be good enough for him and his wife.’  
Laure thought a minute then said, ‘why not leave him the lodge, which could be extended to make a nice family home, and lodge Ethan at the manor? After all, no one objected when Hadrian lived there did they?’  
‘I thought of that. It’s Ethan I have to convince; he is always so worried in case the servants or the villagers suspect something. Did I tell you that he left the village at 14 because of rumours that he was a molly?’  
‘No, I did not know. It explains his cautiousness anyway.’  
They had resumed walking and had reached the little temple. Anne-Laure stayed silent, looking at her mother’s face for a while before moving and sitting down on one of the benches.   
‘There was only one bench wasn’t it, when we were children?’  
‘Yes, the one you are sitting on. It is the original bench Mama used. I had another one made for the other side of the temple because I thought it would look nicer, but I have only ever sat on Mama’s.’  
‘It’s a lovely place; I will never thank you enough for this. I am at peace here, truly.’  
They sat there for a long while, holding hands, savouring this moment of companionship and sense of belonging. They had each other again after the dramatic events of their childhoods which had separated them. The separation had happened in this very house, engineered by a man who could no longer hurt them. They had won their happiness and it was a wonderful feeling becoming fully aware of it here. It had been worth returning to Térouanne to feel this.  
They enjoyed their last evening together, parting in the morning was not too sad because they expected to be reunited very soon. Louis went to say his goodbyes to his father in the morning and he was quiet during the journey back to Dielette. Anna lent them her coach for the trip.   
‘La mouette’ was waiting for them, their crew glad to go home. They had kept to themselves during the few days they spent in the port, they did not speak French for a start. Someone had approached them with an offer to sell them kegs of a strong local spirit called Calvados, they had been tempted, only the thought of being caught with what could be described as smuggled spirits stopped them. Mr. Kermor had warned them against buying spirits in France to bring home. They knew customs and excise cutters kept a watch on small vessels like theirs, they had seen at least 2 on their onward trip.   
Yannick and Alex inspected the cutter carefully before sailing out. Neither man wished to run into trouble with customs. They found nothing and the excise officers who boarded the cutter after getting them to heave to and submit it to inspection did not either and they reached Porthdowns without further delay after that.


	15. People come and go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On his return from France, Yannick discovers that changes have to be made in his household.

The children were delighted to see their parents back and that Louis was with them. Yannick noticed the disappointment in Miss Leary’s eyes when she realised that Anna had remained at Térouanne. He made sure she was present when he explained why Anna had stayed behind and that they would soon see her again at Mersac. He extended the invitation to stay at Mersac to Sir Selwyn, but the older man declined. He had done quite enough travelling over the past few years, he said.   
Because they had arrived late at the manor, Yannick suggested innocently to Ethan that it might be better for him to sleep at the manor tonight rather than disturbing Dr. and Mrs. Hawkins. Unsurprisingly, Ethan agreed. It gave them the privacy and the comfort they both needed. Yannick mentioned Laure’s suggestion about future living arrangements and Ethan agreed that at least until they departed for Mersac it could help everyone if Ethan lived at the manor instead of the lodge. Further arrangements would wait until Nathaniel decided to settle in Porthdowns or not.  
Ethan was also anxious to find out if Dr. Hawkins was appreciated by the villagers. He was reassured the next morning when Jonathan called for his daily meeting with Yannick. Ethan spoke to him after his lengthy meeting with Yannick and was glad to know that Dr. Hawkins had been immediately trusted by the villagers and readily accepted. Ethan then made his way to the lodge to visit Nathaniel and Katherine.

It was nearly lunchtime by the time Ethan reached the lodge. Katherine was on her own, she informed him that Nathaniel was attending a patient at the village. She welcomed him warmly, but he noticed signs of uncertainty in her eyes. He also noticed subtle changes in the parlour, fresh flowers in vases, one set on a table now covered with a pretty embroidered cloth, tassels added to the tie-backs of the curtains which hanged so much better than they did after he opened them, the furniture was the same, although arranged differently, he smiled warmly to Katherine, ‘I see you’ve added the famous feminine touch to the room, my dear, it looks lovely. Do you feel at home here?’  
She blushed, ‘I do, yes, I hope you don’t mind the little changes I made, and of course, it can be all changed again when you move back here if you don’t feel comfortable. I know Nathaniel and I are only guests here.’  
Ethan smiled again. ‘Actually, I had a word with Mr. Kermor about this, he agrees with me that it would be better if I stayed at the manor until we leave for France. I shall have my bedroom cleared out and my things brought to the manor, this way you could use the room as a nursery when the time comes.’  
Katherine’s eyes sparkled with joy.  
‘Oh, this is so good of you, are you sure though, we don’t mean to push you away from your home!’   
‘You are not, I assure you, besides, it’s not my home, the lodge belongs to the estate. The manor has many unused bedrooms so I shall be spoilt for choice. I want you to be happy here, I hope that Nathaniel and you find the peaceful life you are seeking and maybe decide to stay on after I return.’  
She mentioned that indeed she had talked with Nathaniel about staying on; Nathaniel enjoyed the work and found that there was plenty enough to occupy two doctors. Ethan told her he was delighted and hoped that by the time he came back from France they would have decided to stay. He took his leave and said he would expect Nathaniel to call at the manor when he had some spare time, he would get some men around later in the day to clear his things.

Katherine looked particularly happy when Nathaniel entered the lodge much later, he’d had a long day visiting patients at the village, one sailor had come back with a badly broken arm and he had needed all his skills to set the complicated fracture correctly to avoid future problems for the young man. He liked working at Porthdowns because he could get to know the patients, follow their progress in the future, or so he hoped. It was so different from working in the hospital in London where he spent his days trying to cure people who generally came when they were beyond help or mending people only to see them return to their life of squalor and to more mishaps.   
He knew Katherine was happy here, his worry was that she would find it hard when Ethan returned, and she would have to leave the lodge. He would have to find another place to stay if he wished to continue his work as a doctor in the area. The schoolteacher had told him that Mr. Kermor and his party had come back from France and Nathaniel had been expecting to find Ethan at the lodge tonight. Instead, he found his wife beaming at him and telling him excitedly about the conversation she’d had with Ethan earlier on. It was quite late in the day, so Nathaniel waited until the next morning before calling at the manor.  
He found Ethan eating a late breakfast with Mr. Kermor. They welcomed him and talked about the future. Nathaniel confirmed that after only a week spent at Porthdowns he had made his mind up to stay, he only hoped that Ethan would feel all right with this, that he also thought that there was enough work for two doctors in the area.  
He was quickly reassured by both Ethan and Yannick. He had not had a chance to spend time with Yannick before, he had only been briefly introduced to him when Katherine and he had arrived. He had heard the man’s character praised by all at the village and was glad to see that he was as described.   
Ethan would resume his duties on the following day, he agreed with Nathaniel on sharing the load until he returned to France. Nathaniel was relieved when he found that Ethan enjoyed visiting the mines; as his wife got nearer to her confinement he was weary of spending time far from home. Coming here so late in her pregnancy had been a risk; because of the long journey required to reach Porthdowns from London, he had wished to wait until after the baby was born. It had been Katherine was had insisted on him taking up this opportunity straight away, she did not want her child to be born in London and had been afraid that Ethan would find another doctor to fill the position. He was immensely grateful to her for her insistence, they had not been so happy in a long time.  
Yannick told Nathaniel to talk with Jonathan regarding plans to extend the lodge and Nathaniel took the opportunity to suggest that a building dedicated to caring could maybe be added to the poor house. Yannick laughed; Ethan had already mentioned this:  
‘There are now two of you pushing me to spend even more money!’ He exclaimed, ‘I can see that it’s going to be necessary, Mrs. Hawkins will not want patients calling at her house days and nights, besides I expect the population to increase, I heard that more families are wishing to come and live here.’  
Ethan smiled, ‘I am not surprised, the living conditions here are so much better than anywhere else in the area thanks to you.’ He nearly added ‘my love’ and thankfully stopped just in time…If Nathaniel noticed the abrupt way Ethan finished his sentence, he did not show it.  
They were interrupted by the arrival of Anne-Laure, Louis, and Alex, they were returning to London today and were ready to leave. Nathaniel returned to the lodge while Yannick and Ethan went out to see the voyagers depart. The children were sad to be separated although the prospect of a trip to France in the near future helped soften the sadness of this separation.

Ethan had spent the night in Yannick’s bed on account of the fact that all the best bedrooms were occupied. After the Londoners’ departure, Yannick instructed Mrs. Harvey to have the rooms that Louis had occupied, prepared for Ethan with his things moved in them. This way propriety would be respected and hopefully, servants would not talk.   
Later that morning Mrs. Harvey showed the set of rooms to Ethan. Mrs. Harvey had come up the stairs and unexpectedly turned right on the first-floor landing, then walked further along the open gallery leading to the main building of the manor before turning left in a corridor.   
Ethan was surprised, she was going away from the rooms in the tower where Yannick’s apartment was, furthermore his rooms were on the second floor, not the first. He had expected her to go straight up the second flight of stairs, and that his room’s door would not be far from Yannick’s which was directly opposite the stairs on the second-floor landing.   
All the family’s bedrooms were on the second floor, accessed from a long corridor running above the open gallery; he had assumed that his lover would put him somewhere there, convenient for secret night encounters. The gallery was long and worst of all anyone standing downstairs in the great hall could see goings and comings, so it was going to be most inconvenient to walk along it and then up the stairs.   
At the end of the corridor though, Mrs. Harvey took him up another staircase he had not known existed. It reached yet another long corridor and after another turn, Mrs. Harvey finally opened a door and let him enter. He wondered for a minute if he was going to find his way back from this maze…  
He found rooms that had been obviously newly decorated, the first room was a sitting room with a lovely view of the front gardens, now a meadow next was a very large bedroom. The bedroom curtains were drawn, and Ethan was not sure how it was also facing East. He was disorientated after the turns they had taken. His clothes were in the wardrobe, said Mrs. Harvey. They returned to the sitting room, some of his books had been put down on the desk, others were piled on the chairs:  
‘Another bookcase will be brought in tomorrow for you, if there is other furniture you require, you just need to ask, Doctor.’  
‘Thank you. These were Louis’ rooms I understand,’ he replied to Mrs. Harvey, ‘and recently refurbished, I believe. Tastefully done, if I may say so.’  
‘Yes,’ she answered, she hesitated then added, ‘refurbished twice within two years, as it happens.’  
‘Really? Louis did not like the previous decoration?’  
He noticed another hesitation from her, then, ‘no, these rooms had been first redecorated for Lord Vernon who used them when he lived here. Then Mr. Kermor had them decorated again before he let Mr. Louis use them.’  
‘Oh, I had no idea,’ so, he thought, these rooms had been Hadrian’s; in this case why were they not nearer Yannick’s though? Mrs. Harvey seemed to read his mind, she smiled:  
‘The old decoration was not suitable for Lord Vernon. In the old days, Tamsin told me, these rooms were her Ladyship’s rooms. I better show you why,’ she said, returning to the bedroom. He followed her, curious: she walked to the far side corner, the wall was decorated with a fine tapestry inlaid within painted frames. She turned a knob he had not noticed and opened a door cleverly hidden by the ferns and trees of the tapestry pattern. He discovered a long, narrow corridor leading to another door at the far end of it. ‘This door access Mr. Kermor’s bedroom directly.’ She told him.   
Ethan blushed. She laughed.  
‘Both doors can be locked, Mr. Kermor is the only one with the keys at the moment. I understand that John will look after you as he does Mr. Kermor. He is as loyal to Mr. Kermor, as he was to Lord Vernon before. Did you know that John and I came from his late Lordship’s household?’  
‘I do, yes, Ian mentioned it,’ he had learned to be careful of the way he addressed his lover when others were around, not knowing who knew who he really was and who did not, ‘it can’t be easy for you.’  
She smiled sadly. ‘Life goes on. We are both glad that he found you, he did not deserve to remain alone all his life.’   
Ethan smiled back. ‘It’s rather unusual, these rooms set up, though,’ he said, ‘it is not common for the lady of the manor to have to use service stairs and corridors before reaching her apartments. Not in the houses I know of anyway.’  
‘Ah, yes, I can provide an explanation, thanks to Tamzin, who as you know has lived here since she was a child. The lady’s rooms used to be next to the tower’s room originally. Near his Lordship’s. They are Miss Charley and Master Meredith’s rooms now. Around twenty to thirty years ago, the eldest son of the family was lost at sea and her ladyship nearly lost her mind with grief. She could not bear to look at the sea, which in this house is not an easy thing to do as you know. She only lived in the downstairs rooms facing the front of the manor and never walked further than the lower end of the meadow which was a formal garden in the old days. His lordship thought that it was better for his wife’s sanity to decorate these rooms with no views of the sea and make them hers. With this arrangement, he could visit her without causing her further anguish. I don’t know what they were previously used for. The stairs and service corridors already existed, and I understand that she did not even use the grand stairs up to the landing but the service stairs from the kitchen so obsessed she was of not catching a glimpse of the sea on her way up. Better for her this way than living in rooms with shutters and curtains tightly closed all the time.’  
‘How sad. Did it help her, do you know?’ Ethan was keenly interested in sicknesses of the mind.  
‘Unfortunately, not. Even in this part of the house, no-one can escape the noise of the sea during a storm, and it was a storm that had taken her beloved son’s life. She threw herself from the balcony above the entrance porch during a particularly violent storm. His lordship followed her in the grave a few months later, Tamzin said he blamed himself for not moving away from the manor as she had begged him to. The estate fell to the younger son who was a scoundrel and dilapidated the family fortune, gaming, and partying until he lost it all at cards to Mr. Kermor’s aunt. I am sure you heard that story.’  
‘Indeed. Thank you, Mrs. Harvey, I am sorry this house has such a sad history though.’  
‘It’s not unusual within these old walls. Every house has its lots of sadness and happiness,’ she hesitated, ‘I hope I haven’t put you off these rooms, Doctor…’  
He laughed. ‘No, not at all, I don’t believe in ghosts and I doubt that Ian would have given me these rooms if Lord Vernon or Monsieur Louis had expressed reservations…’  
‘I never heard that either of them did, no.’ With these words, she gave him a little curtsy and left the rooms.

Ethan stood there for a while, grateful for her kindness. He liked the rooms even though he hoped that he would not sleep in his bedroom very often.  
After walking down to the village to visit his sister and her family as well as his father, Ethan rode to the tin and copper mine to spend the rest of the day there. Luckily, there had not been any major accidents for a while now. The pump was working nights and days and the tunnels now reached under the sea. Copper was extracted from rich yielding loads and he noted a feeling of optimism within the workforce.   
Despite the assurances they had got, it had not stopped the men from talking. They could not help thinking that Mr. Kermor would not keep open for much longer a mine which ran at a loss months after months after the large investment of the pump was made, despite Jonathan and the mine manager telling them that Mr. Kermor did not intend to close it. They knew it had only paid for itself before. Such thoughts had ended now that the copper was being extracted and more men were taken on to work.

Yannick had a quiet day, he spent it with his children, Meredith and Charley had a lot to tell him as usual, they went for a walk and took Nicky to see the animals at the Top-road farm where he played the newly born kittens. Estate business could wait until the next day.  
Dinner that night was quiet, the absence of the Londoners was felt by all. They played cards but Yannick did not join in, for one thing, he did not like cards, and for another, he wanted to spend time with Nick. He had missed the little boy and Nick had missed him too despite Meredith and Charley’s attention. Nick had not left his side since he had returned, and he now took him up to bed to read him stories as he had already done on the previous evening. He waited until the child had fallen asleep before re-joining the family downstairs. Ethan and Miss Leary were partners against Charley and Meredith and were having trouble winning against the youngsters.   
Yannick preferred talking to Sir Selwyn. These two men who had apparently nothing in common and had started their acquaintance on a very wrong footing were now good friends. Tonight though, Yannick felt that something was bothering the older man. He hesitated to ask him about it, afraid that Sir Selwyn might have guessed or heard rumours regarding his relationship with Ethan. Servants talk was what he was most concerned about. With his household extending and more rooms being opened up at the manor he’d had to take on more footmen and maids and although he trusted Mrs. Harvey in her choice of staff, he was still worried in case someone voiced an innuendo. Sir Selwyn knew who he was of course and had read the slanderous pamphlets. They had never broached the subject between them, and Yannick was loathed to do it.   
Sir Selwyn was quiet for a little while, his eyes lost in contemplation of the picture above the mantelpiece although Yannick was fairly certain that he was not seeing it at all, then he looked back at his host and said seriously:   
‘I fear that you are going to be angry with me.’  
Yannick frowned, mildly surprised, not understanding where this was leading to. His first thought was that Sir Selwyn wanted Meredith to come and live with him. After all, he had acknowledged that the young man was his grandson, Meredith now bore his name and was his heir. Yannick’s heart missed a beat, if Sir Selwyn wanted to legally force Meredith to come and stay in Bath, there was not much that Yannick could do to stop him. He would not go to court over this. He did not manage to keep the anxiety out of his eyes and Sir Selwyn saw it and guessed the reason. He put one hand over Yannick’s arm and said quietly:   
‘It’s not about Meredith. I would never do something so cruel as to take him away from you after all you’ve done for him. Besides, I would lose Meredith’s love for ever this time. No. It’s about Mrs. Harvey.’  
Yannick was too stunned to speak, so he let him continue, ‘I have grown very fond of Mrs. Harvey, you see,’ he paused, ‘and she has grown rather fond of me too. In fact, she has made me the honour of accepting to be my wife.’  
Yannick gasped then exclaimed, ‘but that’s wonderful news! Why did you think that I would be angry?’  
‘Well, I’ll be taking your very efficient housekeeper from you.’  
Yannick laughed, he became conscious that the card players had stopped and were watching them intently.  
‘Have you told him then, Grandpapa?’ asked Meredith.  
‘I have, yes, and you have won your bet, my boy.’  
Meredith clapped his hands, beaming, joined in by Charley.  
‘You two were in the confidence?’ Asked their father.  
Charley went to him and planted a kiss on his cheek. ‘We can keep a secret, you know.’  
Ethan and Miss Leary looked puzzled, Sir Selwyn hurriedly told them his news and received yet more congratulations. Yannick called a footman and asked him to call for Mrs. Harvey to join them presently and instructed him to bring a bottle of Champagne. More congratulations were given to a blushing Mrs. Harvey by all. She and Sir Selwyn described how they had fallen in love over the weeks, first appreciating each other’s company before they realised that they wished for more than friendship.   
Yannick was sincerely pleased for them, they deserved happiness in the winter of their lives; he was not without knowing that this decision was going to make his own life difficult. He relied a great deal on Mrs. Harvey to run his household and with his forthcoming journey to France as well he was apprehensive thinking of the future.  
Still, he did not wish to spoil the evening mood with his personal misgivings and therefore he banished his worries from his mind for now and enjoyed the drinking and happiness with everyone.  
They went to bed very late, all of them a little tipsy, including Meredith and Charley, more than one bottle of champagne had been opened.

Ethan found that Yannick’s door at the end of the inside corridor opened after only one knock on it. His lover was already on the other side ready to fall into his arms. They barely managed to make it to the bed, tumbling on it and laughing as they struggled to pull their clothes off.  
There was no talking that night they immediately fell asleep afterwards, undone and contented in each other’s arms.  
Next morning, after sharing a long soak in the bath with Ethan followed by breakfast with the children who had also got up very late, Yannick had a long meeting with Mrs. Harvey in his study. It lasted longer than their usual everyday encounter. Mrs. Harvey knew full well that her departure was going to upset her employer’s household, she had in fact been reluctant at first to accept Sir Selwyn’s offer because she felt she owed so much to Yannick for offering her not just a position but also a home after Hadrian’s death. She had also been concerned about the reactions of Sir Selwyn’s family and friends because of her low social status: he was a baronet and she was just a servant.

Sir Selwyn had liked Mrs. Harvey and had started to pay attention to her from the moment he’d met her. He had used every opportunity he’d had to spend time talking to her and found himself in love with the lady. He had not wasted time and had declared himself to her during her employer’s trip to France, he had understood her reasons for hesitating, they had only known each other for a very short time after all, but he had reminded her gently that at their age such a chance of finding the right person to love was not something that should be dismissed without careful thinking.   
And so, she had thought about it and said no more until the party returned to Rosemarkie. She knew that their return would mean Sir Selwyn’s departure for Bath and the thought of him being out of her life for good was suddenly too much to bear. She had gone to him and told him that she was flattered and happy to accept his proposal. He had been delighted, of course, he promised her to have a word with Yannick first, he too was feeling guilty taking his host’s precious housekeeper from him

Before Yannick asked her if she had thought of future household arrangements knowing full well that she must have thought of it as soon as she had accepted Sir Selwyn’s offer, he told her he had some important facts about himself to reveal to her.   
Sir Selwyn had not disclosed Yannick’s identity to her, and he had promised not to in the future.  
‘Not a good way to start married life, if you want my opinion,’ said Yannick, ’she will ask questions about Meredith’s rescue sooner or later and you will have to lie. Better let her know now, don’t you think?’  
‘I do, sir, but the secret is yours, your call.’  
‘I’ll tell her.’  
Now, Mrs. Harvey was sitting down in front of him, looking vaguely worried. Yannick took a deep breath:  
‘You know that there are some things about my life before I came to Rosemarkie that are never talked about or only vaguely talked about. You know that I am French and that Kermor was my mother’s name. I take it that you have likely guessed that I fought on the side of France during the war. What you do not know is that I am rear-admiral Mersac.’ He stopped to let the information sink in.  
She stood still, her mouth slightly open, unable to utter a word for a few minutes. She frowned:  
‘Did Lord Vernon know?’  
‘Yes, of course. We met in India during the war and again by chance in England, afterwards.’  
‘I see. I don’t know what to say. I would never have guessed. Lord Vernon was disgraced because of you…and yet he loved you. Does Sir Selwyn know?’  
‘He does. He found out in India while looking for his son that I had saved his grandson. He found a way of contacting me, as you know. He will tell you the story if you wish.’ He hesitated. ‘There are matters that I have never spoken about with Sir Selwyn. He is quite religious, as you know, I think he could be offended to learn the truth about my relationship with Lord Vernon.’  
‘Or with Dr. Treeve?’  
Yannick sighed and nodded.   
‘He must have read the pamphlets, same as everybody…He never spoke to you about them?’  
‘No, he did not, and I was loathed to mention them, they tell so many lies. About the rape, I never…,’ she did not let him finish:  
‘Of course not. I’ll never believe you capable of such a crime. The lady must have been mistaken as to the identity of her aggressor.’  
‘No, Mrs. Harvey. The truth is she was not aggressed, we were lovers. She is Nicky’s mother.’  
‘And Sir Selwyn knows that too?’  
‘Yes.’   
She watched him carefully.   
‘Thank you for telling me. You know I think you underestimate Sir Selwyn, he has probably guessed for Dr. Treeve; if I were you, I’d talk as honestly to Sir Selwyn as you’ve just talked to me. Now, shall we get down to business, sir?’   
Yannick nodded; it had not been as bad as he’d feared. He did not ask her to keep the information for herself, he knew she’d be offended if he did. He should talk to Sir Selwyn, she was right, and it would not be the first time that she’d given him good advice either; to John too, he thought, he deserved to know. Tomorrow. Now he would listen to her ideas on the future of his household.  
She suggested to him that the head footman be promoted to butler for a start. The man had held the responsibility of looking after the cellar since Loïk’s departure and was reliable. She also informed him that the widow Carne was quite unhappy at the Posting house on the top road. She had been running the inn with her son since her husband’s death 10 years ago and had done a good job of it only her son had now got married and all was not well between the 2 women. Mrs. Harvey thought that Mrs. Carne would be a good replacement if it was agreeable to him.

Yannick agreed to promote the footman, he knew and trusted the man, regarding Mrs. Carne, he did not know her. She had not been present at the different parties or venues in the village because of her workload. He decided to walk up to the Posting house and also talk to Ethan before he made his mind up to offer her the position. The fact that Mrs. Harvey recommended her was a good point for the woman for a start. Ethan was still at the manor, so he asked him if he knew Mrs. Carne, he did and liked the lady. She was appreciated in the village and had the reputation for being hardworking and honest. Ethan had the feeling that Ross Carne’s wife on the contrary was not well-liked in the village, too full of herself, they said. She was though, a wonderful cook, he added.   
Yannick called the head footman, Henry Pascoe, to his study. He informed the man that Mrs. Harvey had recommended him for the position of butler and asked him if he wanted it. Henry Pascoe was overwhelmed. He was a hard-working young man in his early thirties who been the first footman recruited when Yannick had moved in in 1814. He had shown intelligence and resourcefulness as well as discretion and was well-liked in the household. Yannick had been pleased by Mrs. Harvey’s suggestion, he himself had thought about Pascoe, it was good to know he had judged the man correctly.  
Next, he had to go and meet Mrs. Carne without her knowing why he was seeking her. He preferred to take her unaware and judge her on the first impression. He had rarely got his first impressions wrong in the past. The Posting house building was the propriety of the estate, Mrs. Carne’s son was the postmaster, running the place. Yannick had met him when he had first come to live at the manor but not since then. The reason was simple, the Posting house was situated on the top road, above the manor on the road which led to Falmouth to the west and St Agnes to the east, and Yannick never had any reason to stop by, either on his way out of the estate or returning to it.   
The place was always busy, it was a good halfway stop for travellers to Falmouth, it was well kept by the tenants who never caused any trouble. He realised now that he should have made the effort of showing his face there at least once. He consoled himself with the fact that he had issued invitations to both events that he had organised at the manor and that no-one from the inn had attended. He had mentioned this to Mrs. Harvey, and she had explained that Mrs. Carne had no free time at all at the inn.  
Jonathan had told him that the Posting house was busier and busier, further bedrooms had been created in the loft the previous year and since Ross Carne had married Edith 6 months ago, the Posting house had acquired a reputation for being the best table in the area. Edith was responsible for this, there was no denying that she was an excellent cook. The trouble was that she was also a bossy woman who had started to order Ross’s mother about and slowly taking away every one of the older woman’s responsibilities starting with looking after the accounts pretexting that she should take it easy now that Ross was married and had help.   
Mrs. Carne was now left with menial tasks, one could say that these were in fact harder for her health than the previous ones. They were the kind of tasks that needed to be attending all the time, like keeping the fires going, clearing out the glasses, checking the rooms after the travellers departed. Tasks more appropriate for a young maid or a kitchen boy rather than for the fifty years old mother of the tenant really.

Yannick decided that a walk up to the Posting house was well overdue. After a light lunch, he took Charley and Nicky with him for the visit while Meredith stayed at home with Sir Selwyn. He wished to have Charley’s view on Mrs. Carne, after all, the girl was destined to be mistress of her own house in a few years-times, and the decision of recruiting new staff would be up to her then. She may as well get any experience she could get, also Yannick wanted to make sure that his daughter liked Mrs. Carne, it would not do if she did not like the woman.  
They followed the path from the manor to the lodge and then up to the top road. It was the longer way around to the Posting House: going through the woods and the meadows by the newly cleared up road at the back would have been quicker. They often took Nick that way to see the goats and sheep grazing in the meadow, otherwise, their walks generally took them down to the village or along the coast. Nick was happy with the change of venue, he ran on ahead, stopping regularly to check if his father and sister were following and sometimes running back to them, therefore, walking twice the distance.  
Charley enjoyed running after him, making faces and growling, pretending to be some ferocious animal, and getting him to shriek in delight when she caught him and twirled him in her arms.  
They soon reached the top road; across stood the Posting house. It was a long stone building with several windows on the ground floor as well as on the first floor, new windows had been put on the roof too. There was no apparent front door, but a large porch on the left signaled the entrance to the yard. Yannick and the children made their way there, the entrance door to the house was at the side of the building, the stables were immediately opposite the porch. There was one carriage there having its horses changed.

Yannick and the children wore plain clothes purposely. He did not want to draw attention to himself. He had put on a hat, wore dark pants and worn boots and a plain blue shirt in heavy cotton belted at the waist. Charley wore a pale blue dress without frills, her dark hair was just tied back by a ribbon; she also wore a straw hat. Her skin had the same golden glow as the villagers had, just like her father and young brother. They entered the main lounge and settled at a free table by a window. The Posting house was not full, but it was fairly busy nonetheless. Yannick had avoided the taproom, unsuitable for Charley and Nicky and where he would be more than likely recognised by farmhands or day labourers. He soon noticed that two women were working in the lounge, the youngest served the customers, the one whose age seemed to fit Mrs. Carne’s description was clearing out tables.   
Yannick called to attract her attention, she smiled at him and came to tell him that a serving girl would come and take his order presently. He smiled back and asked why she couldn’t take his order herself. Before she had time to reply, the younger woman walked to their table and told her to fetch another ham from the larder. Yannick disliked the interruption:   
‘Do you mind,’ he said coldly, ‘I was talking to this lady.’ The younger woman hardly gave him a look but replied that she would take his order. He ignored her, tried to keep his annoyance in check, and looked at the older woman:  
‘Are you Mrs. Emma Carne by any chance? I wish to talk to you.’ He saw the surprise in both women’s face,   
‘I am, yes, and you wish to talk to me?’  
‘I do, please sit down,’ he looked at the younger woman and said, ‘bring one jug of cider with 3 glasses and one glass of milk, please, and I am not in a hurry so you have time to get the ham from the larder yourself if it can’t wait.’  
This time she did look at him, she had seen him before, she was sure of it, who he was suddenly dawned on her, thankfully before she’d had time to say something silly she would have bitterly regretted later, she curtsied and returned to the kitchen. Mrs. Carne looked puzzled.  
‘I understand that you used to run this place after your husband passed away,’ he said, ‘how long did you do this for?’  
‘Ten years, sir, while my Ross was too young to take over, he was only 15, and even if the tenancy was put to his name, I was running the place while teaching him. He needs no teaching any longer and besides he’s taken a wife now.’  
‘So, I’ve heard, was this your son’s wife?’ He asked looking back to the kitchen.  
‘Oh, no, she’s just a serving girl, comes from the village. My daughter in law likes the serving girls to be young and pretty for the customers, good for business to be served by a pretty young face,’ she said, keeping the bitterness she felt out of her voice, ‘now sir, you haven’t told me why you wish to speak to me?’  
Mrs. Carne did not get her answer because out from the kitchen came another young woman, looking flustered, who rushed to their table, closely followed by the serving girl with his order on a tray, she curtsied to Yannick, ‘Sir, we are honoured, to be sure, I am Mrs. Edith Carne, can I get you some other refreshments? Some cakes for the children maybe?’ She smiled at Nicky.   
Yannick nodded. ‘Yes, thank you, cakes if you please, and I don’t want to be rude, but I’d like to speak with Mrs. Emma Carne without interruption,’ he looked at the older woman sitting at his table as he spoke. Edith Carne fluttered hesitantly for a few seconds before nodding and withdrawing muttering a, ‘of course, sir, as you wish, sir.’  
Yannick felt like laughing, he just grinned mischievously, ‘right, where were we? Are you happy working here Mrs. Carne?’  
She looked stunned. ‘No,’ she said, ‘but I understand my son and his wife’s wish to bring changes, they want to do things their way, it’s natural. Down at the ‘Black Dog’ old Samuel also had to let go, it’s the way of the world.’  
‘But you are not as old as Samuel Treeve. Have you thought of leaving this place and working elsewhere?’  
‘Hi, I have, but there aren’t many positions in service though. I thought of applying for a job at the manor, and I talked to your housekeeper, Mrs. Harvey, about vacancies a little while ago. What do you think, do you have a vacancy in your household that I could fill Mr. Kermor? This is who you are isn’t it?’  
‘Yes, I am Ian Kermor and these two are my children, Charley and Nicky. Mrs. Harvey told me of your wish to work at the manor and I wanted to meet you.’  
There was an unbelievable look on Mrs. Carne’s face, and she said,   
‘Pardon me for asking, sir, but do you always interview in-person candidates for positions at the manor and without introducing yourself first?’   
This time she got a laugh out of him; he did not answer straight away, he had a drink of cider first; she had liked the man from the start, she remembered the previous lord of the manor, his arrogant air, the way he cared for no-one except himself, she had heard only good things about Mr. Kermor. She had also heard how unconventional he was. His unusual way of acting had prompted her honest question. She waited for his answer patiently, drinking a sip of cider herself. The serving girl who appeared with a plate of cakes prolonged the quiet moment, Mrs. Carne noticed an exchange of looks between father and daughter, the girl was smiling broadly at him, then she offered a cake to the little boy before picking one up for herself.  
He returned his attention to Mrs. Carne:   
‘No, I don’t, I leave the running of the household and the recruiting of its staff to Mrs. Harvey. I don’t interfere, generally, but times and circumstances are changing, and I find myself in need of doing some recruiting myself. I apologise for not introducing myself to you, I wanted discretion which was silly of me really as I am obviously well known in the area. Can you tell me what knowledge and skills are required for running a Posting house?’  
Mrs. Carne was too shrewd to think that the position he was thinking of was that of a chambermaid, but she decided to play his game. Maybe he did have an interesting post to offer and wanted to see if she could fit in, so she described how she had supervised the staff, paid their wages, checking on their work, the Posting house had to be clean and ready for travellers at all time, making sure that orders to the suppliers were passed on and deliveries made and checked, that invoices were correct and paid on time; the stables had their own manager who saw to the horses' welfare and the stable staff, but the financial side of it was also dealt with by the postmaster, therefore by herself on behalf of Ross during several years. It had been the first side of the business that she had delegated to her son, she said, and after he had been old enough to deal with it. When he had married, his wife had taken over most of the interesting tasks little by little over the last six months.   
‘I still work here, of course, but I don’t like what I am doing which is why I wondered if Mrs. Harvey had a position I could fill at the manor.’  
Yannick nodded. ‘The manor employs mostly maids and kitchen staff. Your competences are hardly those of a maid though, don’t you agree?’  
‘Yes, I do. But I want a change, I am willing to learn,’ she decided to be bold, ‘try me.’   
She did not add that any position away from the Posting house would be better, she badly wanted to distance herself from her family, but she was a proud woman and did not want his pity.  
He watched her pensively, his elbows on the table, and his chin resting on his clasped hands. He decided to call her bluff:   
‘Can you start today?’  
Her eyes sparkled with pleasure.   
‘Yes, I can’t see why not. Thank you, sir.’ She spoke earnestly.  
‘Right, that’s settled then. No need to rush though, take your time to get your belongings together and I will send a man with a cart to collect them later on. We will have a meeting with Mrs. Harvey when you get to the manor.’ He finished his drink and took a cake. ‘Are they good, Nicky?’   
Nicky was eating his second cake and as his mouth was full, he could only nod vigorously in answer to his father.  
Mrs. Carne finished her drink. Should she ask what position he had in mind, how much he was going to pay? He must want to be leaving this side of negotiations to his housekeeper, she thought. Yannick guessed the questions going through her mind. He liked her reserve just as well as her willingness to take on any position which would take her away from what he guessed was an even more unhappy life here than had been disclosed by Mrs. Harvey. Mrs. Carne did not deserve to be toyed with though:  
‘I am afraid that you will not have very long to get used to your new position, Mrs. Carne. Mrs. Harvey is leaving us next Monday, so you will only have 5 days to assert yourself and learn as much as you can from her. Rest assured that after her departure, my door will always be open to you if you have any questions. Also, if you wish to run things differently from Mrs. Harvey, I’ll listen to any suggestions.’  
She listened to him, startled for a moment, mouth and eyes wide open until she managed to utter,   
‘Mrs. Harvey is leaving the manor?’  
‘Yes, she is getting married to Sir Selwyn who is my guest at present. She suggested that I should offer you her position. She had nothing but praises for you. I am sure that you understand that I wished to meet you first before I proposed this to you.’  
She gasped, and her hands flew to her mouth, eyes suddenly far too bright.  
‘I don’t know what to say except that I will be worthy of your confidence, sir.’  
‘I am sure you will be. As I said, I shall send a man to collect your belongings later this afternoon, you can ride back with him to the manor if you wish.’  
‘I will, thank you, sir.’  
He smiled, she got up and curtsied to him. He ate his cake then got up also, leaving money on the table for the drinks and cakes as neither the servant nor Edith Carne had asked him for payment when they had served him. He did not want favours.

The lounge had welcomed several other customers while they were talking, and heads turned around to watch him and the children leave the room. Emma Carne busied herself needing to do something to control her emotions, she wiped a nearby table, before returning to wipe Yannick’s and collect the money. A new chapter in her life was starting, and she could not remember the last time she had been so happy.  
She finally stopped her unnecessary cleaning and made her way towards the taproom door, impatient to share her news with her son. Edith caught up with her and asked to have a word in private. The younger woman’s expression showed displeasure and Emma Carne could not help feeling smug at the thought of how much more displeased her daughter in law was going to be soon. She was going to lose her unpaid flunkey.  
‘I am sorry Edith,’ she said firmly, ‘I wish to speak with Ross first. I will join you in the office afterwards.’  
Edith stopped still, surprised but not wanting to make a scene in a lounge full of customers, she let her go.  
Emma found Ross who she knew was in the taproom and after pulling him aside, she quietly told him her news. He was delighted and looked relieved.   
‘I always knew your talents were wasted here, I am sorry mother, I should have…’ She stopped him before he said any more. ‘It’s all right, I know. Be happy, son.’   
She kissed him and made her way to the small office at the back of the Posting house where Edith was already waiting for her. Before Edith had time to start ranting, Emma spoke first:  
‘I am leaving the Posting house today, Edith. I am taking up the position of housekeeper at the manor. Let’s not pretend that we shall miss one another, I am glad to go, and you are glad to see the back of me. Someone from the manor will come to carry my belongings down later today. Now I need to go up to my room and pack.’   
She stomped out of the room without giving Edith time to react, pleased with her little effect. She was sad for Ross though. She had warned him about marrying a woman whom she had guessed was bossy, but he was in love, and Edith could do or say no wrong in his eyes. This position at the manor was godsent, she had exhausted her patience with her daughter in law and had been worried in case the young woman pushed her luck just a little too far one day. It would not happen now, it was all for the best, for Ross’s sake anyway.  
Later on, that afternoon, a wagon driven by two men turned up at the Posting house to take Emma’s belongings to the manor. Emma had two big trunks containing her clothes, linen, and personal items; her furniture included one bed, one desk, and a comfortable-looking armchair, one dressing table with a ceramic basin and jug, and another smaller chair. After her things were loaded, she settled at the back of the wagon and let them take her away. She had thought that she would only feel relief at going, but she was wrong, there was nostalgia too.   
As the vehicle passed under the porch marking the entrance of the yard, she remembered the happy years when she had settled here as a young bride, in love with the good man she had accepted to marry. She thought of all the love they had shared and the hard work they had put in to make the Posting House a successful business. Of the four children she had brought to the world, only Ross, the youngest had survived. The ten years after her husband’s death had taken their toll, and her health had suffered. When Ross had married Edith, Emma had been relieved to get help, not knowing that Edith would take over completely within two years. Still, it was up to Ross to deal with his wife and to continue and build on the success they’d achieved. Edith, despite her bad temper, was helping thanks to her wonderful cooking skills. Word had got out among the coachmen who now chose ‘Porthdowns Corner’ inn for their overnight rest stop first of all. The Posting House was making money, Ross and Edith looked happy, it was Emma’s turn to make a success of her new career.

At the manor, Emma Carne had a formal interview with Mrs. Harvey and Yannick before she was introduced to Henry Pascoe, newly established as the butler.   
Yannick encouraged both Emma and Pascoe to talk freely, ask any questions they wished about the family, the other people living at the manor, the visitors he received, his own likes and dislikes. He also informed them that although Mrs. Harvey was quitting her position as housekeeper next Monday, she would only leave the manor on the following Thursday, after her marriage to Sir Selwyn in Porthdowns church. She was going to be overseeing the preparation of the reception given for her marriage at the manor.  
For Emma and Henry, this was going to be quite a test of their abilities, to be thrown like that straight from the pan to the fire as it were. Yannick reiterated his offer for help, any doubts or questions they had, he would be listening and advising, well-aware that time was short.  
After the meeting, he introduced Emma to the staff who were assembled in the hall at Mrs. Harvey’s request. They all knew already that she was leaving, and Mrs. Carne was no stranger for most of them. The news of the impending marriage with the reception held at the manor was news though.  
Afterwards, Henry Pascoe took Emma Carne to a room where she would live temporarily until Mrs. Harvey left the house. She then went back to Mrs. Harvey to continue her training.  
The following days leading to the wedding day went by in a whirlwind of excitation and hard work from all at the manor.   
Amidst the chaos, Yannick managed to have a quiet word with Sir Selwyn about the pamphlet’s allegations and about both Hadrian and Ethan. Sir Selwyn thanked him to come clean with him; he did not approve, Yannick’s behaviour was contrary to his deep religious beliefs, but he told the younger man that he had no right to judge him, his life was his own and although Sir Selwyn deplored the choices his friend had made, he told him that he believed that he was only accountable to God. It was very much the response Yannick had been expecting, at least they had cleared the air between them.

Extra staff was brought in, and somehow everything got ready in time and Sir Selwyn came out of the church proudly with a delighted Lady Delaney at his arm under the applause of their guests and of most of the villagers who had come to share their joy for the occasion.   
The reception was not a grand affair according to the new Lady Delaney’s wishes. She had wanted to invite the staff as well as the family to a buffet. Yannick had insisted on opening the grand gallery for her and had paid for the buffet. The vicar, schoolmaster, and both doctors were present with their wives and the whole affair was most pleasant. After the reception and the speeches, the newlyweds departed for Bath and their new life while at the manor musicians started to liven up the company with a gig. Ethan opened the ball with a delighted Charley and Yannick followed suit with Miss Leary.

The goodbyes between Sir Selwyn and Meredith were sad. They both knew that it would be some months before they met again. Meredith promised to come and stay for a longer time before he decided on what course to take at university. He was still unsure of even wanting to go and it started to prey on his mind. Talking to Louis helped. The two young men had become firm friends and Louis had reassured him, telling him that he had only now decided that he wanted to work with his mother in the wine selling business in London, something his father was furious about. ‘Aristocrats do not work’, had been Valentin’s heated words to him when Louis had told him his plan before leaving Térouanne. Louis had impertinently reminded him that it was his wife’s trade ventures that had saved him from debtor’s prison. Valentin was never going to change.

The following weeks were quiet enough. Nathaniel had made up his mind to establish himself definitely in Porthdowns. Katherine gave birth to their daughter at the end of September. It had been a difficult birth and she was finding that recovery was taking longer than she had thought it would. Ethan understood and took more of the workload onto his shoulders while Nathaniel looked after both his wife and his baby daughter.   
Perseus returned but because Anna was still held up at Térouanne, plans had to be changed. Sorting out her husband’s financial affairs was proving more difficult than first thought. Perseus could not be left idle, furthermore, there was a load of kaolin waiting in Charlestown to be shipped out. As autumn was now upon them, Yannick thought it better to postpone the long-awaited-for trip to Mersac until spring at the earliest. The children were bitterly disappointed but understood their father’s argument, it would give more time to have repairs completed at the castle and they would be able to enjoy the countryside better in the good weather. It suited Ethan rather well too, he was not sure that he could leave Nathaniel alone for weeks at this time of the year with coping with the sick as well as with his family who obviously needed him.   
So, Perseus sailed away without them.

A small compensation was made to the children when they visited their cousins’ new house near Plymouth. They stayed a week and the change of scenery did them good. Yannick was glad to see his sister again although he was missing Ethan; he did not see Louis either, the young man had remained in London looking after the business.   
He had talked a long time beforehand with Ethan about his visit to Plymouth. Ethan was as always, the wiser of the two. They had to attract as little attention as they could on their relationship and if they could explain a doctor’s presence during a long trip to France arguing that Nick was still young and Yannick worried about his younger son’s health, it was difficult to explain his presence in every trip that Yannick was making, especially during a season where his skills were in demand in the estate.  
During the visit, Anne-Laure suggested that they met in London for the Christmas season. It would mean staying away from the manor, and Ethan, for 5 to 6 weeks. Yannick had not travelled to London since Hadrian’s death and a part of him was dreading it. He promised his sister to make his mind up before they came to visit in mid-October for the birthday celebrations.


	16. Birthday time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some birthdays are easier to celebrate than others.

On the 16th Yannick would be 40 and on the 21st Charley would be 13. He put the emphasis on Charley’s birthday as usual. This year, he was not keen on celebrating his birthday. He had never been a vain man, but of course, he knew how handsome he was. He had only ever used his looks on purpose once: to obtain favours with André. He had never played with other people’s feelings, charming them, or letting them believe that he was interested until he got what he wanted and then cutting them coldly out. On this morning of the 16th, though, as he spent a little longer in the mirror looking for signs of age, he heard Ethan laugh at him from the bed where he was still sprawled.  
Yannick pretended to be offended and walked back to his lover. Ethan opened his arms to him, and Yannick accepted the embrace.   
‘You don’t look older than you did yesterday, you know, you are just as gorgeous as you were when I first set eyes on you.’   
Yannick watched him, pretending to be suspicious. ‘What are you after this morning, flatterer?’  
Ethan laughed again, ‘nothing I assure you, you drained me last night. I am older than you are remember?’  
Yannick kissed him, ‘shame. Still, no time for dallying anyway, I believe I must not be late for my surprise birthday breakfast.’  
‘Who couldn’t hold his or her tongue?’  
‘I shan’t tell you. Come on get up and let’s go down for a quick bath before pretending to know nothing about the special birthday breakfast.’  
When they walked into the dining room and before they saw the table decorated with flowers and overflowing with French pastries and cakes, it was the delicious smell of the pastries and the fresh coffee that made their mouths water.   
After greetings and kisses from everyone, they tucked heartily into their food before Yannick received his gifts.   
Out of all the ones that he received, the most unusual one came from the children who had made him a beautiful book. They had folded thick sheets of paper and bound them together with colourful string to make a book that told the story of one season at Rosemarkie. There were alternative pages of pastels view of the house and the garden with some with pressed flowers or leaves pasted on others according to the seasons of the year. Yannick recognised Meredith’s work for the pastels and Charley’s for the pressed flowers. Nick had also decorated one page with small people and animals made of straw glued and added to his drawing.   
Yannick had known about the special French breakfast because he had overheard the cook ask Mrs. Atkins if she could come one hour earlier because French flaky pastries and brioche had to be made fresh in the morning. Anne-Laure had brought the recipes with her from her French cook in London.  
The rest of the day passed pleasantly, Anna had made the journey from London with Louis while Anne-Laure and family had come from Plymouth. Miss Leary was happy to see her friend again at last. Anna had only returned to England at the end of September. Yannick particularly appreciated her making the effort of travelling all the way down to Cornwall so soon after returning to London; he told her so and because she blushed slightly he suspected that may be coming for his and his daughter’s birthdays could have been a pretext to come and see Miss Leary. Whatever the reason, he was glad of it.  
They played games, talked, read, walked in the gardens, ate and drank too much, and praised the cook as well as Mrs. Carne’s and Mr. Pascoe’s who had made sure that nothing was amiss, and the visitors were happy.

Charley’s birthday was a bigger event than her father’s quiet celebration had been. Yannick had invited Lord and Lady Trewin, Thomas and Alicia, and their two children for the day. They arrived on the eve of the 21st and would stay for two or three days.   
The dinner found the notables of the village around the table again, a lively occasion for all to meet and mingle with Yannick’s family and close friends. Katherine was able to attend, her first time away from the lodge since giving birth. The baby had been brought to the manor and was spending the night in the nursery, watched by Nick’s maid. The couple was offered a bed for the night at the manor. If Louis had been disappointed to find himself in a different bedroom than the one he used to occupy on his previous visit, he did not show it. Yannick explained that Ethan had been given the room since he came to live at the manor. Louis, who knew about the door between the bedrooms understood only too well...  
The highlights of the evening’s revelry were fireworks followed by a ball. Meredith’s birthday had been such a success with everyone in the village that Yannick had decided to repeat the feast for Charley’s. Tenants from the farms had come as well as those workers from the mines who did not live too far away. Even customers from the Posting House walked down the road to watch. It was a costly spectacle worth every penny just to see the happy faces around him. Times were hard, he was doing his best to provide work for his people, but he knew that it was not always enough to keep them happy, pleasure such as this display followed by music and dancing were also needed to make a hard life a little bit easier to bear.

The guests from Falmouth stayed for a further two days before they returned home. Anne-Laure had diplomatically waited for their departure before broaching again the subject of Christmas in London with her brother. She chose to invite him for a walk down the terraces to the sea to try and get out of him the private reasons he had for stalking his answers.   
‘Is it about Ethan? You don’t want to part from him and yet you know you can’t justify his travelling with you.’  
‘Partly, yes. We talked about this, Ethan and I. We accept that we have to be parted sometimes. Remember, I was a sailor, I was separated from a wife I loved once, and I lived most of my life with men parted from their wives and loved ones for months and years. Why, you must have lived through this when Alex served. I think it’s more because it’s London and because of the bad memories it holds.’  
‘I understand, but you can’t forget that London also has good memories. We found each other again in London and you found and saved Nicky. This must count for something, no?’  
‘A lot, yes.’ He remained quiet though. What she did not know was that he had committed murders there. He had never felt remorse or guilt over his actions, he had not even thought about them until recently when he had not been able to look into Ethan’s eyes when he had mentioned the difference between killing in action and cold-blooded murder. Ethan had not noticed; Yannick knew though that he was keeping a secret from the man he loved and he hated it.  
Anne-Laure respected his silence for a while as they walked on. She was a determined woman though, so despite sensing her brother’s unhappiness, she nevertheless decided to press on and get the true reason behind his reluctance.   
‘There is more than that. I feel a shadow. Is it Hadrian’s ghost? You have never spoken about the circumstances of his death. I heard that he had succumbed to his injuries after being attacked by ruffians. Can you still not speak of it?’  
‘I can, and I have. I told the children and Ethan but not everything. You are partly right when you speak of ghosts. Not Hadrian’s ghost though. He rests in peace.’   
He looked intently at her, wondering if he should unburden himself or not. The people closest to Hadrian knew that justice had been done even if they did not know the details. Anne-Laure, he realised knew nothing of the events of that summer, she had had other concerns at the time with her father and Anna separating.   
‘It’s a story with an ugly end, Laure, you told me several times that you’d rather put up with the truth than with secrets. But are you quite sure you want to know this one?’  
‘Are you afraid that I will look at you differently if I know?’ She asked gently.  
‘Yes.’  
She linked her arm to his in the same way as Amber did and resumed her walking.   
‘Tell me. I’ve come to know you well, brother. I know that if you have done something you are not proud of, it must have been to protect the ones you love, and I will not look upon you differently for it.’  
He nodded thoughtfully then he told her the full story. He left nothing out, she tightened her arm when he spoke of Hadrian assaulting him, he looked at her face and saw the tears, he put his other hand on top of the one she had on his arm and squeezed before he continued to the end. He did not spare her the details, not even the way he had looked into Tanner’s eyes, and enjoyed the fear he read in them before pulling the trigger.  
‘So, you dispatched justice after the Magistrate failed to do it.’ She said flatly.  
‘Yes, but I am not sure that two wrongs make one right. I doubt that Ethan would approve.’  
‘Maybe not. I approve. The three aggressors had agreed to murder for money a good man who had fought for his country and their hands were more than likely already bloodied, so justice was done. As for Tanner, what kind of a man was he to have another murdered because he couldn’t obtain a paltry piece of land? He was just as bad, worse even. Lay out the ghosts, brother. You did what needed to be done and now London is just that little bit safer thanks to you.’ She laughed. ‘No reason for you not to spend Christmas there with us!’  
Yannick stopped walking, he held his sister in his arms and hugged her before he kissed her cheeks. She returned the hug and they walked back to the manor.

Charley entered the drawing room after her piano practice had ended, Alex was on his own, reading by the window.  
‘Where is Papa? He still hasn’t said anything about Christmas, and you are leaving tomorrow,’ she said, frustrated. She had tried to bring the subject up with him several times without any luck. Alex smiled at her.  
‘He has gone for a walk with your aunt. You shouldn’t worry, she is very good at obtaining what she wants,’ he grinned knowingly.  
‘Really? They have gone on their own, without Nick?’  
‘Yes, he is with Meredith in the library.’  
She stood in front of him and screwed her face a little, looking dubious.  
‘And you reckon that aunt Laure can get him to agree to come in the spell of a walk where Meredith and I have failed for weeks to even get him to talk about it?’  
‘I’ll bet on it if you wish,’ he said, still grinning.  
Charley hesitated. Uncle Alex looked pretty smug. He probably knew something she did not.  
‘You know something I don’t, it would be an unfair bet,’ she said firmly. This time he laughed outright.  
‘You are right, I know my wife!’  
Charley looked out of the window. Her father and her aunt were walking up toward them. Their arms were linked, and they were chatting happily. They entered the drawing room and gave her the good news: they would all meet in London in December and spend four weeks there. Charley did her best to get out of her father how aunty Laure had convinced him, but he just smiled, shook his head, and claimed to be allowed his little secrets. She gave up after a big sigh. Grown-ups, she thought, annoyed and envious at the same time, the years did not pass quickly enough to her liking,   
‘I hate being just a child,’ she mumbled. Her aunt heard her, she put her arms around her and whispered.   
‘Don’t wish your life away, love, enjoy each moment of your childhood, adult-hood will come soon enough.’  
The next morning, Anne-Laure, Alex, Louis, Anna, and the children left for London.

In November, Nick turned five and enjoyed a special birthday feast at the manor with the family. Then, Yannick invited the village children to a bonfire and a party at the village hall, including the orphans from the poor house. He had a cartload of oranges delivered and the fruits were distributed to the children along with small toys like balls or dolls. Daisy at the ‘Black dog’ had prepared loads of sausages and baked fresh bread rolls and all sorts of little cakes. The children were not the only ones to enjoy the feast, the parents ate their share, for most of them, it was their first taste of oranges.   
This year’s harvest had been better than the previous two, the pilchards were plentiful, and pigs had been fattened this year and were ready for slaughter. Hunger should be kept at bay this winter, at least in this part of the country. Everyone there that night knew how lucky they were to have a compassionate landlord. They were few and far between in the country and unrest was growing all around them. With wages kept low and food prices up, revolts were frequent in larger towns and villages. Landlords were buying common land and fencing it, the fields delivered better yields, the farms grew bigger, but common land was shrinking in the country and villagers had no place to let their few animals graze. Yannick had not followed the trend on his estate. The manor was the owner of the land, he chose to leave the farms as they were, they were profitable, he did not feel that they needed to be increased with the common land around the village which remained for everyone’s use.  
Nick loved the long hair shaggy sheep grazing on the common. The manor’s farmyard had several pigs, goats, and a lot of poultry. He would have liked some sheep in the farmyard too and was unhappy with his father’s decision not to have some, the yard was not large enough, his Papa had said before agreeing to have some in the meadow behind the house. Nick consoled himself by managing to convince him to enlarge the poultry pen instead and to accommodate more species of hens.

At the end of November, Charley received a letter from her mother, Julia. Her correspondence with her mother was nowhere as regular as was Meredith’s with his grandfather. She had only spent one day with her mother and although the day had passed pleasantly, Charley had not felt the need to get closer to her. Her mother’s friends had been kind and her mother had sounded interested in her studies and likes and dislikes, but thinking back on that day, Charley had the impression that she had been interrogated and judged. Her father’s shadow had been with her and she had noticed the looks of distaste her mother’s friend, Lady Asquith, had exchanged with the others when Charley spoke of him. The letters she had written had been a description of her life and studies, they contained nothing personal, Papa was never mentioned. She spoke of Meredith and Nick, of her cousins’ visiting, well aware that her mother probably cared nothing for these people that she would never meet.   
The letter informed Charley that her mother would be in London over the winter season. Julia had returned to Sorano soon after meeting Charley in Devon and she was now travelling back to England for the first time since then. She informed her that she would be staying in London at Lord Asquith’s townhouse and had no plan to return to their country house after therefore making it difficult for Charley to visit her again.

Charley kept the letter for herself for a while before talking to Meredith or to her father. She never mentioned Julia to her father, she kept her letters private and he understood, he was not interested in Julia’s life. Charley knew that Meredith would understand her uncertainties about wanting to meet her mother again or not. At first, after their meeting, she had dreamt of spending time in Italy, visiting antique sites with her, and sharing her passion for old stones until she realised that her mother had no interest in this at all. She expressed her wish to see her daughter in Sorano and get accustomed to the fact that she would inherit the estate. Charley gathered that Sorano was her mother’s great love. Her letters explained to Charley how vital it was to know how the estate was run, Sorano was known for breeding prize Tuscan horses and although Charley was a good rider and enjoyed looking after her horse, she did not have her mother’s passion for them. Julia and her husband Augustus were no longer living together. Julia had returned to Sorano leaving the Prince in London. She lived for her estate and breeding her fine horses.   
Julia explained to Charley in her letter that she was going to London to visit her friends Lord and Lady Asquith, nothing more. In truth, Julia was going because Lady Asquith, who had been like a mother to her and had welcomed her during the bleak years of her exile, had begged her to come. Her husband and younger son, Lord Ashley, had fallen out and Lady Asquith was hoping that Julia might have some influence on both parties to mend things between father and son.   
Charley finally told her father that her mother would be in London at the same time as they would be. She said she’d like to visit her if he didn’t mind. She opened her heart to him, she had not told him before about her doubts regarding a future relationship with her mother, their tastes and interests were so far removed from each other. Meredith had advised her to see her in London, she was older than the last time they’d met, she knew more about her, the conversation would be easier. Yannick agreed with Meredith; Charley should not miss this opportunity to get to know Julia better.


	17. Christmas in London

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yannick cannot help getting involved when the welfare of children is concerned.

On the second week of December, Yannick, the children, Miss Leary, Mary, and John departed for London in the large new coach that Yannick had bought that summer to replace the old one they had been using previously. It was the first time they were using this carriage for a long journey, and they immediately appreciated the comfort its new springs brought them compared with the old coach that Yannick had bought rather in a hurry after arriving in England in 1814. This new one was nicely upholstered in soft leather; the windows were clear and they all fitted inside even though space was not plentiful. Nick sat on his father’s knees at first, then moved along onto Meredith’s and John’s to give the adults some rest on the way. Yannick had dismissed the idea of John and Mary that they should be travelling outside, the way servants did.   
Keeping Nick busy during the journey stopped Yannick from brooding about leaving his lover behind for a few weeks. Within the close confinement of the coach and in the Posting houses they spent their nights in, he never had the luxury of being on his own and therefore of letting his thoughts of Ethan take over. At night, he shared a bed with Meredith and Nick most of the time, while Charley slept with Miss Leary. John and Mary had to share with other travellers and were not so lucky some of the time.  
They made it to London in 5 days, an excellent time, pleased to arrive at Alex’s townhouse in Grosvenor square at last. Miss Leary was taken to Anna’s house where she would stay.

Yannick’s first night in London was unhappy, he was alone all of a sudden and acutely aware of the many miles that separated him from Ethan. He was also worried about the sojourn all together. At dinner that first day, Anne-Laure had mentioned parties they were invited to and he had not liked telling her that he did not wish to attend any. It was not only that London held bad memories he held at bay, it was also that he knew that among Alex and Laure’s acquaintances he could be recognised. He had met several English officers during his career, notably at Kediri, and he was not looking forward to meeting some of them again. Thomas had told him that his admiral, Sir Philip, as well as the other two captains of the squadron had blamed Mersac for the lack of advancement to their naval career. The last thing Yannick wanted was to find himself face to face with one of these bitter men during a party.   
He resolved to tell Laure how he felt the next morning at breakfast before his sister started to make too many arrangements for the season. Alex understood and was immediately supporting him. Laure was disappointed, some of her friends wished to meet her brother, she said, his wine was now selling very well under the name of Château Kermor. It should have been named Château Mersac of course because of its provenance. Not likely to attract customers if you had chosen that name, had said Anna, an unpopular name was not commercially wise. Yannick had thought it better if no one knew where exactly the wine came from, the Bordeaux region was vague enough for his Falmouth customers, he had told Anna. She nevertheless warned him that the Guild would not content themselves with this; he had agreed to meet its members, fairly secure in the fact that he was unlikely to meet a naval officer among them. He had not worried about being grilled on his wine provenance though. Anna promised to be by his side during the meeting.  
Ahead of the planned visit to London, Charley sent a letter to her mother to inform her of her presence in London over the Christmas season, asking when it would be convenient to call. She now just had to wait for Julia to write to her at her aunt’s address in Grosvenor Square. In the meantime, she intended to have a good time in the Capital with her cousins. She was reassured that her father’s not attending parties did not mean that she would be banned from them altogether. She had been told that it had been exceptional for her to attend some of her father’s parties at Rosemarkie. She was too young to attend large ones in London, Angela who would be 15 in January, and Charley would attend small private events with only close family friends present while Meredith and Max would accompany Alex and Laure to bigger events. Charley had not been pleased by this state of affairs at all but she had not managed to sway her father.

‘Why? I look 15, don’t I?’  
‘Yes, that’s the problem. You look 15 and you could fool anyone. The problem is you could attract the wrong kind of attention.’  
‘What do you mean? I want to go to amuse myself, not look for a husband!’ she exclaimed.  
‘I know, my love, unfortunately, your fortune will attract men like a moth to a light.’  
‘I’ll send them packing, you know I will!’  
Yannick smiled and nodded. ‘Sorry but you are not old enough to be discerning in these matters. Believe me, your time for fun at parties will come soon enough. I don’t want you to be swept off your feet by some handsome young blade who might not be all he seems to be.’

Charley’s face told Yannick what she thought of his remarks better than words would have. He laughed, hugged her, and suggested a walk to Kew gardens while the weather held. They had visited the gardens with Miss Leary last time they came. It had been summer then, Yannick had not accompanied them, he realised that he had seen very little of the city in fact and decided to change this. Nicky was glad to go out. Although he had put up with the long hours stuck in the coach without too many complaints, he was now ready for exercise. Yannick had promised to take him to the zoo in the Tower of London, to the docks to see the ships and if the weather was good, to sail his little boat on Kensington Pool like Max had done the day the children had met. So far, Laure had told him, the weather had not been cold, just a lot of rain, very different weather than the last two years had been.   
Meredith came along with his sketchbook. They visited Kew gardens' hothouses and marvelled at the tropical plants growing there. Unfortunately, in December the park lacked flowers. In the end, Charley had decided not to come, she preferred having dancing lessons with Angela. Charley loved dancing, she had been introduced to the art by Lady Trewin who was her father’s favourite dance partner and she had accompanied her father to Falmouth every time he went there to spend time with her while he was conducting his business in town. Since the incident about his private life the previous year, Yannick had made sure that he found privileged time with each of his children on their own.

Charley loved these two days each month when she travelled alone with her father to Falmouth in the phaeton, he took her to the wine shop, and she stayed with him at the flat for the night. He took her out to lunch in a restaurant and they had dinner in the evening at Richard and Amber’s house. Thomas and Alicia were often present too. While he visited the warehouse and looked at the accounts with his manager, she would stay with Amber who loved to look after the girl. Amber gave her dancing lessons, she listened to her piano playing and she took her into town to shop for material and patterns that Mary would use to make new dresses. Amber liked fashion and was a good adviser, Mary could make just about any dress from a pattern, often with the help of John who was still as interested as ever. Amber had told Yannick several times that she would love to convince the two domestics to come and work for her instead. Yannick had jokingly threatened to stop seeing her if she dared make them an offer.   
Regarding Meredith, Yannick had invited the young man to his daily meetings with Jonathan and he was accompanying his father when visiting the farms, the mines or the pilchard business. Yannick had put more money into the pilchard’s cellars, extending them and this business was now showing a very healthy profit. They were buying pilchards from other ports in the area and preserving the fish to sell in large towns outside Cornwall. It employed a large workforce, women from the village generally prepared the fish in the cellars while men did the heavier work of pressing it into barrels. Meredith had looked into exporting pilchards too. There was a great demand from Italy, he found. Their production was not large enough to export for now, but later, maybe, he told Yannick, after all, they had one ship already doing trade and a second one was being fitted in London. The cellars had attracted people from other areas to come and seek employment in Porthdowns. Empty cottages had been repaired and rented to the newcomers and Jonathan had hinted that new buildings might be needed soon if the trend continued. But it was the clay mine that captured Meredith’s attention most. His interest had been renewed following several visits this year and he never missed an opportunity to go up to the clay works whether his father was with him or not. Meredith was looking forward to developing his ideas with Louis and ask for the young man's opinion, the two of them had become close friends.

Charley was not the only one wishing to make the most of the stay in the capital to renew with acquaintances. John and Mary had both been given days of leisure and intended to make full use of them to see old friends. John had kept contact with one footman from Hadrian’s townhouse and had written to arrange to see him. Mary had not written to her old friend the gardener from the Alconbury House. After she left London for her new beginnings in Cornwall she had not looked back. She did not even see if the bank account that Robert Fellowes had opened for her had money in it. Now, two and half years later, she felt that she could look back without any regrets, so she decided to go to the house and see if her old friend was still in employment.   
Mary knocked at the servant entrance of the house as she had done 4 years ago when, after finding herself destitute, she had come to beg help from her Ladyship. The money she had been given when her employment had been terminated had not lasted long. Mary had believed that she would find a new position quickly but she had not reckoned on the fact that she had no references and that potential employers would not take the risk of taking her on without any.   
She had not been as careful as she should have been with her money and a year later, the only job she had found was in a public house cleaning and carrying with only just enough money to survive. Unfortunately, she had been weak at this time of her life and had started to drown her sorrows in gin.   
Peter, the gardener, used to know her from better days when they both worked at Lady Alconbury’s house before her marriage. He had pleaded her case to her ladyship; Mary had been lucky, Lord Alconbury was not at the house when she called and Lady Alconbury had not forgotten the woman who had served her well for 15 years. She knew that they had been grossly unfair to Mary and had felt guilty especially after she’d glimpsed the woman and realised in what dreadful state she was. She had given Mary some money and promised that Peter would bring her more.

Alexis had kept to her word. During one and a half years, Peter had met Mary at the Public house where she worked and had given her money on Alexis’s behalf. Robert Fellowes had found her thereafter following Peter. She had left a letter to Peter, delivered by Robert, to explain that she had found better employment and had given him the details of her bank account to deposit the money in case Lady Alconbury wished to continue helping her. Mary had never written again to Peter.   
Mary did not know the footman who opened the door to her. The man was civil with her, very different from the last time she had been there, but then this time she was smartly dressed in a good cloak against the cold, she wore gloves, her hood was trimmed with fur. She pushed it off her face and on her shoulders, her hair was tidy, held up on top of the head in a fashionable bun. She asked with a smile if Peter the gardener still worked for the house. Mary pretended to be a cousin of Peter come to visit. The footman consulted the butler, who did not recognise Mary, and she was allowed to go in and talk to Peter who was busy in the hothouse.  
Peter screwed his face at the woman the footman introduced as his cousin. As Mary walked nearer, he recognised her, and his face lights up with pleasure at the sight of her looking so well. The footman left them, reminding Peter that she could not stay for long as he was working. Mary did not tell him who the man she worked for was, only that she was living in the country and a lady’s maid to a bright thirteen-year-old. They were good to her, she said, she had stopped drinking, made friends, and enjoyed her life.  
Peter was glad for her, his life was happy enough, he was left alone with his garden and that was all he asked for. He was the only gardener at the London house, so he was not left idle. Mary inquired about her Ladyship and Peter told her the gossips he’d gathered from downstairs. His Lordship had not improved, he still controlled everything she did, the clothes she wore, the friends she met, and did not hide the fact that he had mistresses. Peter told Mary that he had deposited money on her account. Alexis knew that Mary had left the Public house for a better life but had decided to continue giving her money.  
‘You are lucky that her Ladyship has her own money thanks to her father’s fortune and generosity because his Lordship gives her nothing.’  
‘I am sorry for her. She still has no children?’  
‘No, and that’s what’s annoying him most or so I’ve heard.’  
Mary smiled, keeping for herself the fact that it must irk him knowing that it was highly likely his own fault if no heir had been produced and that his wife was well aware of that fact. Mary wondered how Lord Alconbury would react if he knew what had happened to Alexis’s child. She felt good knowing that she held information probably unknown to Lord Alconbury. What Mary did not know was that he was consumed by hatred for the boy his wife had borne to Mersac.  
Peter told Mary the news of Sir Sidney Lovejoy’s upcoming marriage. Lord Alconbury had introduced Sir Sidney to high society ladies he could court in view of marriage. He had needed the support of his brother-in-law because the family’s baronetcy was recent, and his money came from trade. It had taken time to find the right girl, one rich enough, titled, and innocent enough to please him, because, despite his wealth, Sir Sidney would not content himself with a girl without a large dowry. At last he was engaged, and the marriage was planned for the spring.  
Mary’s thoughts drifted to Alexis. She knew that Alconbury had persuaded his brother-in-law to place the baby somewhere and that his wife was never to mention the child again; Mary wondered what her reaction would be though if she learned where her brother had taken her child. Then again, maybe she did not care. Mary could not quite convince herself of this, Alexis had been a gentle soul, she had probably really loved the handsome Frenchman but had not been strong enough to turn her back to her family to run away with him. Things might have been different if she had discovered earlier that she was expecting her lover’s child.   
Mary realised that Peter was watching her as her thoughts wandered. She had been silent for a while. She smiled at him.  
‘Sorry, I was thinking of the poor girl Lovejoy is marrying,’ she lied, ‘the man is a cad, she will not be happy.’  
‘He is a proud man, that’s for sure, does not lower himself to talk to servants. Her ladyship asked me to give her news of you if I had any. Do you allow me to do so? You were lucky to find employment without producing references, she would be pleased to know that you are happy.’  
‘I am happy. My employer is someone I met abroad some years ago, he knew me, so he did not need references. He has a daughter who needed a maid, an adoptive son, and a younger son, who has just turned 5. I had no problem stopping the gin, I had something to live for, I am particularly fond of the little boy. You can tell her that. I am sorry her life is not what she could have had.’  
Would Alexis understand the hidden message? That her son was safe, wondered Mary, she hoped so.  
The footman appeared in the doorway, looking apologetic, Peter nodded, he knew the butler was keeping a careful eye on him, the man wanted to replace him on account of his old age and looking for excuses to do it. He probably sent the footman. Mary understood. She said her goodbyes, asking him when his free day was and where they could meet if he wished to. He told her and she was on her way.

Mary had given that information on the spur of the moment. She remembered her lady’s tears when she had been forced to leave for London so soon after giving birth. Her husband had been in the cottage all along, refusing to let her near the baby. The only time she’d had with him was after birthing; lucky enough, Alconbury had been away at the time and Mary had let Alexis cradle the new-born until he had come back. After that only the nurse and Mary had been allowed near the baby. Alconbury decided 3 days after the birth that his wife was well enough to travel to London and Mary had never forgotten Lady Alexis’s tearful face through the coach window. She had held the baby toward the window to give the mother a last look at him.   
Mary had remained in the cottage with the nurse until spring when Sir Lovejoy had appeared and taken 6-month-old Nicholas away. When Mary had found out where the child had been reared in London before his father had found him, she had been surprised that the little one had survived at all.  
Mrs. Harvey had described to her Yannick’s cold anger when he had brought the little boy to Lord Vernon’s house; he was such a small, skinny, dirty waif, with a head of matted curls full of lice and a skin which showed multiple bruises as well as rashes and blisters. Mary had arrived at the house herself a day later and she recalled that it had taken a lot of love and care over the months to transform the silent, withdrawn child into the happy one he was now. Unfortunately, he would always limp as a cruel reminder of an accident during his first two years.

Mersac had never mentioned Alexis to her, he had never questioned her about the birth or Alexis’s reaction or feelings at the time. She knew the rape allegations against him had wounded him deeply, now that she had time to appreciate what kind of man he was, she understood his hurt better.   
Despite this, she did feel some loyalty towards Alexis. She had been her maid for 15 years. She had seen her blossom into the beautiful, sweet lady who had foolishly accepted to marry the handsome Lord Alconbury believing his declarations of love. She became a Viscountess, had at last her own house, had believed that she would be free without the presence of her overbearing older brother, Sidney, who had introduced Alconbury to her.   
Mary and Peter came from her maidenhood household, she had always confided in Mary and because of her interest in flowers and plants, she had wished to keep Peter with her as well. Her father had agreed, thinking that it would be good for his daughter to have someone from her old household with her. Her new life was a whirl of parties and entertaining, she concerned herself only with dressing up to please her husband who expected her to look her best at all times.   
As she walked back to Lady Durfield’s house, Mary reflected on the past. She knew that Alexis’s marriage had started to go wrong well before she met the French admiral. Alconbury had not hidden the fact that there were other women in his life. She was dull in bed, he told her once. Alexis had come to his bed an ignorant innocent girl of 18. She had confided in Mary, not understanding what he meant. She felt frozen in his arms, she said, dreading the nights when he came to her. Mary was not much help there, at the age of 15 she had lain with a boy more or less against her will and had been abandoned when she found herself pregnant. She had miscarried and sworn after that to remain a spinster. She had heard tales from the servants though regarding Alconbury’s physical prowess and taste for women of ill repute and she had guessed that he had bedded his wife in the same way as he did his whores.

Alexis had been happy when her husband was given a diplomatic posting in India. He had left on his own, sailing on a warship not suited for transporting ladies and she was to follow him on an East Indiaman a few weeks later. Mary had been wary of leaving England, she did not have the spirit of an adventurer, and when their ship was captured by the French Danae, she expected the worst. Their ship was sailed to an island under the escort of the French man-of-war and the passengers were taken ashore. Lady Alexis, Mary, and the elderly wife of a tradesman were the only women on board. Together with the other passengers and officers of the East Indiaman, they were given rooms in a separate wing of the palace. They were comfortable, but the only freedom they were given was access to a small garden at the back of the building. Guards from the palace stopped them from leaving the accommodation.  
Mary remembered the first time she saw the French Admiral. She had opened the door of the small two-room apartment they had been given at the palace and had stayed on the threshold for a few moments, frozen by surprise, unsure of what to do in the presence of the man standing there. She had recovered quickly enough and let him in, what else could she do? He was one of their captors after all. She did not know who he was, but he was dressed in a French naval officer uniform. She did not make the difference between one rank or another; the man was in his thirties and she noticed how very handsome he was with his classically beautiful features, high cheekbones, straight nose, well defined chin, full lips, and most of all his striking light emerald green eyes bordered by long eyelashes as black as his swept back straight hair.   
He bowed to her and asked in perfect English if her Ladyship was in. He was smiling and Mary noticed that he even had a dimple, she did not have time to answer, lady Alexis appeared from her bedroom. The man bowed again and introduced himself: Rear-Admiral Mersac. Neither women could hide the look of surprise in their eyes. English admirals were never as young as this man. They were promoted by seniority from the admiralty list when their turn came, and few were younger than fifty although Lord Nelson had only been thirty when his turn came. Then again, his name had been on the navy list since he was thirteen years old.  
Mersac enquired about their comfort, reassured them about their safety. Did they need anything? He had books he could lend them if they wished, they only had to ask. His manners were easy-going, his eyes were smiling, his English without the slightest trace of a French accent. Mary noticed that Lady Alexis was immediately taken by this charismatic handsome man. She begrudgingly admitted to herself that he was far nicer than any of the men her ladyship knew. What surprised her also was that he had included her in the conversation something that no English lord would ever do of course.  
Later in the day, Lady Alexis and Mary took a turn in the garden and met Mrs. Bird and her husband. Mersac had visited them too and Mrs. Bird was obviously under the charm of the French officer. He had mentioned that he would hold a dinner for his ‘English guests’ as he called them.   
The invitation came three days later, and Mary was included. She chose to decline. She did not feel comfortable dining in such a select company, she had spent her whole life in service and to dine at the same table as her ladyship was unthinkable. Lady Alexis did not tell her much about the dinner, Mary noticed that she was different after it though. Mrs. Bird spoke to Mary. She described the fine dishes served in the exotic dining room, the scantily dressed servants which made her giggle like a schoolgirl just to think back. She also spoke at length about the French officers. Mersac was present with his flag captain and two lieutenants, all four in dressed uniform. The English guests had been her ladyship, herself and her husband, the captain of the East Indiaman and his officers. Mersac had led the conversation, translating for his officers or his guests as needed. Mrs. Bird was in owe of the man: he had everything, she said, beauty, intelligence, and charisma, what a dreadful shame that he was French!   
Mary did not notice until it was too late that her lady was falling in love with the French admiral. He called often, casually, bringing a book and discussing it with her. They walked in the garden together although always with others present. There were other dinner parties too. Always with other guests, generally the Birds. It was something Mrs. Bird told Mary one morning that got her wondering. Her husband and she had been the only guests that evening with her ladyship and they had retired early after dinner the previous night, she said, she had not felt very well, the heat that day had been particularly tiring. Mrs. Bird had apologised to the admiral for cutting their evening short and, gallant as usual, he had reassured her that an early night was probably what he needed most anyway. What troubled Mary was that her ladyship had not returned to her bedroom until the early hours of the next morning…  
It happened more often, in fact, Mary found herself spying on the Birds whose apartment was further down the corridor from Alexis’s to know when they returned from the evening entertainments and she soon realised that her ladyship only returned several hours later most of the time. Mary found herself in a quandary. She could not blame her lady: he was handsome and most of all he treated her well. He listened to her, was far more attentive to her than her husband had ever been. But Mary knew that it could not end well. He was going to leave her, and she would be hurt.  
Mary remembered hearing the rumours from the East Indiaman’s officers: the French were getting ready to leave the island and not return. Things were getting too hot for ‘Danae’ in these waters, she heard. English ships were now masters of the Indian ocean and the only French ships left were privateers. It was only a matter of months maybe even weeks before an English squadron took Kamorta from the French. Then Lady Alexis delivered her bombshell: she was leaving Kamorta with the French admiral.  
Mary was too shocked to speak at first. Her ladyship was still speaking, of course, she did not expect Mary to follow her. She would be safe here on the island, Mr. and Mrs. Bird would look after her after she’d gone. Then, once she had started to speak, she could not stop herself. She described how she had fallen in love with Mersac and had become his mistress. She was happy for the first time in her life, she was cherished and bedded in a way she had not even imagined could happen. She blushed just at the thought of how he had coaxed her body slowly to bring her to respond to his and experienced a pleasure which when it had happened the first time had left her crying and laughing at the same time in delight. She was going to leave with him, she said. They loved each other and nothing else mattered. He would come to her in the morning of his ship’s departure and she would go with him.  
Lady Alexis spent her day sorting out the clothes she would take with her. She intended to travel light, she said. Mary, for the first time in her life, refused to help her and voiced her opinion. She was making a mistake, she said. Her decision would have a devastating effect on her family. Her brothers and sisters would not be able to find a good match and her poor father might not survive the scandal. She would be viewed as a traitor to her country too.

Mary remembered her words to her ladyship that day and even now, five years later and even knowing what she now knew, she did not regret them, although she had felt some guilt in the role she had played in the early days of her arrival at Rosemarkie. Lady Alexis’s love was doomed from the start. Mary knew her heart and sooner or later, she would have felt bad about her family and it would have affected her love for the Frenchman. And what about him? Would his love for her have lasted? And of course, in England, after the war, she had read the pamphlets written about the French admiral, about the fact that he slept with men. She had not believed these allegations, after all, she knew that the rape allegations were a lie.   
But then, after she had moved to Rosemarkie, Mary had come to be close to John, Mersac’s valet. She knew that he had been Lord Vernon’s valet before coming to Cornwall. She had lived through the sudden departure from Lord Vernon’s house, then the journey to Cornwall, without understanding much of it. Mersac had stayed behind in London and when he had returned, he was a broken man. His pain was immense, far too great to be the pain one could have on losing a close friend, thought Mary. She had confided in John when Mrs. Harvey and he had come to the manor and John had made her understand that the two men had been much more than friends.  
After finding this out, Mary had been sure that Lady Alexis had made the right decision in the end. How terrible would it have been for her to have read these pamphlets while living with him and worried that the man she loved could betray her with male lovers, how would she have lived with this after cutting herself away from her family if she had lost his love?  
Mary was so deep in her thoughts that she hardly realised that she had reached the home of Lord and Lady Durfield. A footman let her in and in the hall, she met Lady Durfield who was taking Nicky to the drawing room. Lady Anne-Laure looked at Mary and asked, frowning:  
‘Are you all right, my dear, you look out of sorts.’  
Mary bowed: ‘I am fine, thank you, My lady, I took a trip down memory lane, that’s all.’  
Laure frowned: ‘Not to the place where my brother found you, I hope, it’s hardly safe.’  
‘Oh, no, My lady, I went to visit someone I used to know in my previous household.’  
This time it was Laure who was frowning: ‘You went to Alconbury House?’  
Mary blushed: ‘I did, yes. I was close to the gardener, Peter. He was the one bringing me money from Lady Alexis in the bad old days,’ she added quickly, ‘I met no one else from that house, My lady.’  
Laure watched her carefully: ‘And it brought back memories. I know Alexis. I haven’t sought her purposely since seeing my brother again, but I have seen her around at receptions. She looks sad and withdrawn. Did you ask your friend Peter about her?’  
Mary saw no reason to lie: ‘I did, yes. Her husband is as bad as ever. He blames her for not giving him a child,’ she said, her eyes dropping involuntarily to Nick who was waiting patiently by Laure’s side.  
Laure sighed: ‘and we both know the truth about this. You feel sorry for her, don’t you?’  
‘I do, yes, My lady. I don’t think she had much of a choice at all in the end. Whichever decision she chose, it was going to cost her, although maybe if she had known about…,’ she looked at the child again without naming him, ‘I believe she would have taken a very different path.’  
Laure smiled mischievously: ‘I know what I would do in her situation, I’d take a lover!’  
‘Laure!!!’  
The horrified exclamation came from the mouth of her husband who had just opened the drawing room door behind her. Laure looked at him and laughed:  
‘Well, yes, I would. I don’t know how much you’ve heard, my love, and I hasten to say that I am not in the situation of the lady we are discussing, but yes I would take a lover if I was in her situation. I’d make sure he had my husband’s colouring of course, but I would.’  
Alex shook his head despairingly at his wife before saying gruffly, ‘well, are you coming for your tea, or not, and poor little Nicky just waiting patiently for you!’  
Laure laughed and made her way to the drawing room, ruffling Nick’s hair on the way. She so wished she could have another child herself. Her last confinement had been difficult, she had nearly died after delivery and she had not been able to conceive again since. She thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Nicky. He was such a dear little boy. Her thoughts went to Alexis. She had felt angry and resentful towards her, holding her responsible for the lies which had destroyed her brother’s reputation, but with the years her feelings had changed somewhat and she did feel sorry for her, especially when she looked at Nicky, the lovely child she would never know.

Charley’s letter to her mother remained unanswered and she was rather glad of it for the time being. She accompanied her father, Meredith and Nicky to the docks to spend the day looking at the ship that Alex had found and to discuss the new fittings he was proposing to do. Alex and Yannick were in their element talking about ships with the dockyard employee who was supervising the work. The man understood straight away that the two men in front of him could not be bamboozled, he would not be able to cut corners and make them pay for shabbier work than what was agreed on. What surprised him also was the level of questions he got from the two adolescents. Meredith was interested in the ship’s capacity, of the workings of the systems to load and unload the goods quickly and safely while Charley questioned about the ship’s sailing qualities. Alex could not help wishing that his own children had been as interested as his nephew and niece were. They had declined the offer to join their father for the visit, Angie had a dress fitting and Max was visiting a friend of his from college.  
The week passed very quickly. Alex and Yannick spent time on their own reviewing their plans regarding their budding shipping company, there were several matters to discuss and to agree upon.

As foreseen, Laure and Alex were out nearly every night socializing at parties all over London and therefore did not come down until the middle of the day. Max and Angie were sometimes invited. Yannick spent time with the children, they visited the British Museum, the Tower of London where they had a difficult time convincing Nicky that he could not leave with any animals at all or run after the crows in the yard in the same way as he did with the chickens at home. The rain stopped the planned visit to the park to sail Nicky’s boat on the pond and Yannick was secretly thankful for the rain. He loved them dearly, but he had forgotten how tiring they could also be, especially all three of them out together when it was not all five because Angie and Max often joined them.   
One day Anna took Yannick to The Vintners' Company to introduce him. The meeting went well, the men had already tasted his wine and brandy and appreciated it. He had brought a map of his properties in France and details of the vineyards and of its history. The men were impressed to know that the late queen of France had been a patron of his uncle Pierre. He managed to keep the name of Mersac out of the conversation, always referring to ‘Château Kermor’, and was praised by Anna afterwards for his success.  
He made the most of Anna being with him that day to get her to help him with choosing presents for Laure and Alex’s children. He did not know their taste enough to risk getting presents that they would not appreciate. He had purchased the adults present in Falmouth at the same time as he had got the ones for John, Mary, and his coachman, to give on St Stephen’s day as was traditional. He would miss the singing at his door on Twelfth Night this year, and the traditional cake too. He realised that he was hardly in London for one week and already missing his house and the English Christmas traditions he had started to celebrate the first year he had settled there with the children. Ethan was going to give the presents to the staff of the manor on his behalf this year. He shook the bad mood off, he was unfair, Laure was going to give them a Christmas to remember, he was sure of it. He knew that large quantities of holly, ivy, mistletoe, and rosemary were going to be delivered on Christmas eve and that Charley and Angie were very excited at the idea of decorating the house. On the same day, Alex had planned to go and choose the Yule log with Max and Meredith. The two youngsters would then help him drag it into the largest reception room of the house and light it in hope that it would burn brightly throughout Christmas day.

He returned to the house later in the afternoon. Anna had left him earlier to return to her own house. Miss Leary had preferred not to accompany them to the Vintners’ Company, ‘Better not frighten them off with too many women!’ She had said it in jest although Yannick had detected resentment in her words. He could well understand it. Anna had been the one who had done all the work to get his wine importing business off the grounds on a larger scale and yet he was the one the gentlemen of the guild wanted to talk to. He hesitated to tell her he understood, the last thing he wanted was to sound condescending. Miss Leary had remained at Anna’s house since they’d arrived in London. She had come to the Durfields’ for dinner with Anna on the evening following their arrival. Anna had no plan to come again before Christmas eve where she was expected to be present with Louis and Abigail for the party and to stay the night before the Christmas day’s traditional dinner.   
Yannick had avoided the subject of Abigail Leary’s wishes for her future. This new year 1819 was not going to be easy, he mused: Meredith had not made up his mind as to whether or not he wished to go to university, Miss Leary’s plans regarding continuing teaching Charley in the future at Rosemarkie were not clear, he was not even sure she’d stay until summer. He understood her wish not to teach Nick. He could deal with that. If she quit her employment at the manor and he suspected that she was going to, he was going to need another tutor. And that was not going to be easy. He sighed, he would go and speak with Abigail tomorrow, he hated to be in limbo especially knowing that it would take time to replace her if she decided to leave.  
The next day, he used the excuse of something he had to talk to with Anna about the business to go and visit. Anna was not surprised when he asked to see Miss Leary, she asked him if she could stay during the interview. His fears were confirmed. Miss Leary wished to abandon her teaching post in Cornwall and establish herself in London. He was not prepared though for the fact that she wished to terminate her mission immediately.

‘I am sorry,’ she said, ‘really, I am, but I am not getting any younger and I realised this summer when Mrs. Harvey took the opportunity for a new life without delay that she was right. I cannot live counting the days when I’ll be with Anna again. I know I am disappointing you, not shocking you I hope?’  
‘I am not shocked, no. I suspected your mutual attachment, it would be hypocritical of me to criticize or disapprove of the way of life you choose. I am disappointed because I am losing the best teacher I could have for Charley and Meredith. You have managed to get improvement in Latin and Greek that I did not think was possible in view of Meredith’s lack of interest. I doubt I can find better.’  
‘Have you considered schools for Charley? There is an excellent boarding school for young ladies in Bath that Charley could attend. Meredith could attend university; his Latin is good enough and he is mature enough to live on his own. It might help them both to learn to live separate lives and find friends.’  
‘I don’t know. I have talked to Meredith about this already. He knows he has to make a choice soon. I am not convinced that a girl boarding school will suit Charley. We’ll see, we have until September to decide.’  
‘Don’t leave it too long. Thomas Broadhurst who runs the Belvedere House school in Bath is much in demand. You might want to read his book: Advice to Young Ladies on the Improvement of the Mind, and the Conduct of Life, it might help you make up your mind.’  
Yannick thanked her and took his leave of the ladies. He was far more dispirited than he had let on. He was not ready to let either Meredith or Charley go from Rosemarkie although he knew deep down that he was probably not doing them a favour by keeping them so close to him.

He returned to his sister’s house on foot, it was a long walk and it was raining. The weather matched his mood, he walked fast, considering the options before him. On the way, he stopped in a book shop and bought the book that Miss Leary had talked about, glad that it was available immediately. He decided that he would read it before suggesting this option of a boarding school to Charley. If he liked the man’s ideas on education then he would suggest it to Charley, in the meantime though he would also look for another tutor.   
At the house, there was a letter for him from home. From Ethan. He recognised his lover’s writing on the address. At least one good thing to brighten his day. He had sent his first letter to Ethan on the day following their arrival to describe their journey. Every night he wrote down what had happened during the day, telling him how he felt and how much he missed him. He sent the second letter after three days, tomorrow he would send yet another describing the events of the last three days. He would finish it tonight, sharing his concern about the children, but trying to keep the words light and not worry Ethan about his state of mind. It was a good exercise, it forced him to think positively rather than letting himself go into the sombre mood he felt looming around him.

23rd December 1818

Only one more day before Christmas eve. Yannick found the house bustling with activities: servants were busy moving furniture, cleaning some which to Yannick’s mind did not need to be cleaned or were situated in corners no one ever looked at. The large dining room was the worst, the table had been extended to its fullest size and Yannick started to wonder how many guests his sister expected for Christmas day.   
The children were discussing their plan for the decoration. They had cut ribbons and were attaching them to apples and oranges that they intended to put up the next day with the greenery. There seemed to be an incredible amount of them and when Yannick enquired about it, he was told that all downstairs rooms were going to be decorated. It made him smile: at least he did not have to worry about keeping the youngsters busy for the next day.   
With Anne-Laure and the children busy with the preparations for the feast, Yannick discovered that he was free for the day. He had thought of spending it with Alex until he realised that his sister was going to need her husband for most of the day, so he withdrew from the bustle to his bedroom and read Mr. Broadhurst’s book on education, taking notes as he read. It was only a little book, so he finished it quickly. The man’s convictions that girls were just as intelligent as boys and worthy of a scientific education captured his attention. He agreed with this statement and started to think that Charley could maybe be happy at Belvedere house until he read the paragraph devoted to religion and how a mother should educate her children.

‘What reasonable expectation can you entertain that your children will be religiously disposed of, while their parents view religious principles with indifference, or treat them with neglect?’ Well, that sentence seemed to resume the way he had educated them in a nutshell, ‘And without such principles, what security can you possess for the future good conduct and welfare of your offspring?’

The last sentence irked him. But what had he expected from a Unitarian minister anyway? Free thinking concerning religious matters was unlikely to be tolerated in any school. The sentence angered him for its short-sightedness, he had brought up his children without religious principles and it had not stopped him from making sure that they conducted themselves well and in respect of others. It surprised him that Miss Leary had recommended the book and the school to him. She knew his views he had made them clear. It was a pity though; the school programme was good and to have school friends would have done Charley some good. Maybe he should think about it, talk it through with Laure and Alex. Not now. There were other matters he wanted to deal with first.

This afternoon he would go to St George’s cemetery to visit aunt Henrietta’s grave. He had told Laure that he wished to go and pay his respect to his aunt. She had loved him dearly and had given him the means of making a new start in life. He wanted to thank her. When Laure had told him where she was buried, he’d had paled slightly. It was in that cemetery that Hadrian was also buried. Robert Fellowes had told him in one of his letters. The two men had kept corresponding occasionally over the months and Yannick had asked him in the summer following Hadrian’s death where his lover was interred. He had not made his mind up to go or not on the grave, and now it looked as if fate had decided for him. Laure had told him that coming to London might help him put his ghosts to rest, it might be that to visit the graves of these two persons he had dearly loved was a way of definitively closing chapters of the book of his life, just like he had done this summer with his father at Térouanne.   
He took a hackney carriage to Covent garden where he bought two large bouquets of red roses grown in hothouses and which cost him a fortune, then he asked the driver to take him to St George’s cemetery. He asked the man to wait for him, knowing that he might be a while because although Laure had told him where Henrietta’s grave was, Robert had only given him an approximative location of Hadrian’s. It would be a large monument though, a family grave put up by Hadrian’s father to honour his own father.

It was a crowded place. Different types of graves were huddled in the burial ground and he realised that it might take him longer than he’d thought to find the right one. He remembered Hadrian telling him once jokingly that his grandfather had been as pretentious as his father and had insisted on having a funeral monument that could not be missed in the cemetery.   
Yannick found his aunt’s grave first. It was a simple tombstone bearing her name and dates of birth and death. She was the only one buried under the slab, alone in death as she had been in her life. He had bitterly regretted her passing away before the end of the war before he’d had time to see her again as an adult. He spoke quietly to her, told her about Meredith, Charley, and Nick, thanked her for Rosemarkie and the opportunity she had given him. He told her about the resting place he had built for his mother, far from her husband and, because he thought she’d be pleased to know, he finally told her how his father was now paralysed and living alone in his big empty house. He laid one of his bouquet on the grave, said goodbye, and went in search of Hadrian’s family monument.  
He looked for the largest monuments there and it did not take him long to find the right one. It was a large rectangular block topped with a big antique-like stone vase. On each side of the monument names were inscribed: Hadrian’s grandfather and grandmother on one side, his father on the next one, his elder brother together with his two young sons on the third one, and Hadrian’s on the fourth side.  
Yannick remained there for a while; his eyes blurred with tears as he looked at the name on the monument. He remembered his vigil by his lover’s corpse the night which had followed his death. Hadrian had looked beautifully peaceful in death. He had fallen asleep contented after they had made passionate love and had never woken up. He had looked asleep in death and maybe somewhere at the back of Yannick’s mind, Hadrian was still asleep. Only today was he seeing the reality of his death, with cold words carved in the stone. He let the tears flow unheeded, it was a while before he managed to pull himself together biting his lower lip. He laid the roses against the stone, underneath Hadrian’s name. It was a small gesture, but it appeased him, nevertheless. Then he said the words that he had not said that night: ‘goodbye, my love.’

The carriage was waiting for him. He laid back on the seat and closed his eyes. He had not realised until he had stood in front of Hadrian’s grave that it would actually make him feel better. He had been frightened of going, he realised now. As if he had been afraid of standing in front of Hadrian and admitting to him that he had fallen in love with another. He remembered Charley’s harsh words to him about betrayal, maybe her words had affected him more than he had thought. What he had felt today though was not guilt over betrayal, it had been sorrow. This ugly tomb showed him the stark reality of the present. Hadrian was gone forever and he had come today to tell him goodbye, something he had not been able to do before. He had not betrayed him in life, no more than he had betrayed Camille or André. The three of them belonged to his past, he would cherish their memories forever, but he would live for the present, and the present was Ethan.

He was welcomed home by an overexcited Nicky who wanted to show him how many apples and oranges studded with cloves he had managed to attach to ribbons ready for tomorrow. Laure looked tired out and he felt a little guilty to have sneaked out and left her alone with his own children as well as hers. He proposed to take them out, night was falling, there was little daylight left, but the streets were lit, they could go and see the confectioners shop windows and admire their brightly lit display of Twelves Night cakes and return before dinner. All five were enthusiastic about going. Apparently, Max and Angie had been pestering their unwilling parents into taking them for the last week. Charley and Meredith did not even know that such displays existed, Nick was enthusiastic just because the older children were. Laure beamed at him and gave him the addresses of the best shops to see, reminding him to watch out for pickpockets, always very busy after nightfall.  
Yannick decided to go to Oxford Street and then to Oxford Market. Laure also told him that he would find more confectioners’ shops there. She had already ordered her Twelves Night cake from one of the best shops at the market, he was not to buy one. He laughed at her; she was treating him as if he was one of the children. He promised to be good and to not lose one on the way and they were out. It was not raining today, and they found that quite a lot of people were out.

The shops were open, their windows beautifully decorated, and Yannick found that the crowd was much larger than he had expected. He was not worried for the older youngsters, Max and Meredith had linked their arms with their respective sisters, so the girls would be safe, he concentrated on young Nick. He felt the tension in the child, the way he was holding his hand so very tightly. It was easy to see where the best shops were, the crowd in front of the windows was thick, they had to wait for their turn to approach. Yannick did like some other men around them, he picked up Nick and sat him on his shoulders; this way the child was safe, and he had a good view of the displays too. Charley teased him, pretending to want a turn on her father’s shoulders which got Nick giggling in delight at the thought and tightening his hands around Yannick’s neck a little too much for his father’s comfort.   
They drew warm glances around them, they made a handsome pair; Yannick with his dark good looks, smiling happily, and Nick with his honey-gold curls and wonder shining on his face. Customers were entering and leaving the shops with boxes containing cakes or other goodies. One look at the four cousins told Yannick that he was not going to be able to come home empty-handed. He had never intended to anyway, but it amused him to play the stern father for a little while. One glance at Charley showed him that she was not buying his act, so he opened the door of one of the shops and got them all filing in and choosing whichever goodies they liked. He paid and they came out of the shop. He had put Nick back on the ground, one hand was holding his father’s while the other was clutching the bag where the shop assistant had put in his cakes and sweets.

They walked along towards other shops, amidst a now thinning crowd and Yannick’s thoughts took him back to that dismal place he had rescued Nick from. He remembered only too well the squalid room full of dirty, skinny children his son had been living in. He also remembered the guilty feeling he’d had left them behind after he had got his own child safely out. He was financing the poor house and an orphanage in Porthdowns, he knew that the word of his charity had reached beyond his lands and that orphans had been brought from other areas. He did not mind; he told the vicar that no one was to be turned out despite the man’s worry that they might not be able to cope with the numbers. He wished he could do more in London where poverty was on display everywhere. He was giving money to a hospice his sister was a patron of. Laure had answered sadly to him when he had told her about his feeling of not doing enough that he just could not solve the world poverty, even if he gave every penny of his fortune away.  
One of the last shops they saw was not as brightly lit and did not sell such expensive cakes as the others, it displayed instead what looked like good wholesome cakes, made to fill up hungry tummies first and foremost. They had a few bits of icing on them too to make them look Christmassy and be in phase with the season. There were no large crowds looking at the not so brightly lit window and the children were already making their way further on when he asked them to wait for him while he went inside.  
In the shop, he asked if they could bake five dozen cakes for him to pick up the next day. He asked that more icing be put on them too. The seller beamed at him, of course, they could, they could deliver too. Yannick declined, he would come and get them the next afternoon. He paid for them and joined the children outside. It was totally dark by now, they turned around and walked back to the house. Meredith had picked up Nick who was showing signs of fatigue and settled him on his shoulders to ease his father.  
‘So, what did you buy in that shop?’ Asked Charley who had let herself be distanced by her cousins and Meredith on purpose.  
He smiled broadly:   
‘Why, cakes, of course! What else do you buy in a cake shop?’  
‘Stop teasing, Papa, I know you did not order a Twelves night cake in there and we already got our bags of goodies.’  
‘I’ve ordered cakes to bring to the poor district of town where I found Nick. I will go on St Stephen’s day; before you ask, yes, you can accompany me if you wish but I must warn you that it will not be a pleasurable trip and you might regret going later.’  
Charley nodded, ‘I will think about it.’  
By the time they got back to the house, Nicky was ready for his dinner and his cakes. He did not dine with the adults every night at the manor; his nursery maid supervised his meals most days, Yannick had not taken her with them on the journey; only John who could look after both him and Meredith and Mary who could take care of Nicky, as well as Charley, had accompanied them. Tonight, Nick was being looked after by Mary, she would read to him and put him to bed after his meal. Nick tired easily and went to bed early. Yannick and the children got changed before dinner, Laure and Alex were not expecting guests tonight, it was going to be the only quiet evening they would get before the next three days of celebrations.   
Tomorrow in the afternoon, the dowager countess lady Durfield, Alex’s mother, would arrive with her daughter, her husband, and their four children. They would stay the night and be there for Christmas day. They all lived in London, quite near for the dowager, but found it more comfortable to spend the night at Grosvenor square on Christmas eve rather than going home late only to return the next day to attend the early morning Christmas church service with the family and later the Christmas dinner.

Alex had never spoken much about his mother. He did tonight, while they were sharing a drink before going to dinner, he warned his brother-in-law that she was, as he put it, 'a bit of a snob’. That made Laure laugh mockingly. Alex explained: his mother was the daughter of a marquess and very proud of her rank. Unfortunately, she felt that both her children had married below them. Yannick frowned, surprised, Laure was the daughter of a duke.  
‘Ah, yes but he was a penny-less duke and a Frenchman who had remarried a rich commoner!’ Also, continued Alex, there were issues with Lady Henrietta who despite her ancient and noble descent had a terrible reputation in society. And of course, his sister, Georgiana, had married a baronet, for love, he added, he then went on to reveal that his sister and her intended had eloped to Gretna Green to tie the knot because lady Durfield had forbidden the marriage. Alex sighed:

‘Mother blamed me. Father had died and I was at sea at the time so the mother said it was my fault for not keeping an eye on Georgiana as an elder brother should have done. She resented my naval career from the start.’  
‘I thought you left the navy after your father died?’  
‘I did, only it took a few months for me to come home after he died, and Georgiana eloped during that time. She knew that as soon as Mother would be out of mourning, she’d have her married off.’  
‘They have patched things up though, if they are coming here for the celebrations, this must have happened a few years ago.’  
‘In 1810. Father died in January and Georgiana eloped in October of that year. They only made up in 1815, after Georgiana nearly died giving birth to the twins.’  
‘And after you interfered,’ cut Laure, ‘if you had not, I am not sure they would be talking to each other. Unfortunately, Ian, you will find the dinner a little tense tomorrow, I fear. They don’t know your past of course; her ladyship would never have come if she knew.’  
‘Thanks for the warning. I shall try to enjoy the evening nevertheless.’  
‘Anna and Louis will be there, and Miss Leary too, naturally.’  
He noticed the anxious look Alex gave Laure and: ‘What now?’  
‘Mother is still reeling about Anna and her husband’s separation, they tried to keep it quiet but couldn’t avoid the rumours. Furthermore, she does not know about Miss Leary becoming Anna’s companion.’  
This time Yannick burst out laughing. He laughed and laughed, tears running down his cheeks. He was soon joined by Alex and Laure. Their uncontrollable laughter brought the children into the room, each one looking inquisitively at their parent’s merriment.

Yannick slept soundly that night for the first time since he arrived in London. He did not write down his feelings to Ethan on his daily evening report. He found it hard to put down on paper how he really felt, he would try to explain face to face with him when he got back. One thing he was sure of was that he felt at peace after the tears and the laughs. He only became aware that he had been living under a cloud until it lifted this afternoon after his crazy uncontrollable laughter.  
24th December 1818  
On the next morning, the whole household was up early and the serious business of decorating the hall, reception room, sitting and drawing rooms, and dining room started. Yannick was put to work by Angie and Charley who had a pretty good idea of how they wanted the greenery to be displayed. Alex took a cart and with Max and Meredith went to fetch the Yule log he had purchased. Laure helped Nick attach the ivy garlands to the side tables and the banisters. She realised that they had made an awful lot of garlands as well as displays of apples and oranges to be attached to the centre chandeliers and candle holders in every room. Some smaller displays were reserved for the dining table which would be set later on by the servants. It certainly would keep the girls and the boys, when they returned, busy for most of the day.   
She could not help being a little anxious about tonight and about what reception the dowager would give her brother. They had agreed on the previous night which subjects were to be avoided at all costs and the children had been briefed too. Anne-Laure worried though that her mother in law would not hesitate to ask forthright questions and that some were going to be difficult to answer. The presence of Charley and Nicky at the dinner was not going to please her ladyship either. Angela, at nearly 15, and Max and Meredith at 16 were old enough to attend, Charley at 13, and worst of all Nick, just 5, were not. Laure had not even suggested to her brother that he left at least Nick out of the dinner because she knew he’d refuse point blank. Nick did not dine with them routinely in the evenings, but this was exceptional, and Yannick was not going to leave his youngest son on his own while everyone else was having fun. Laure had noticed by now that her brother could be quite stubborn when it came to his children.

Yannick went out with John to pick up his order of cakes from Oxford street. He got back before the guests arrived. Laure watched him struggle with the bags with curiosity. Max had mentioned that his uncle had put in an order in a cake shop. She waited until he came back from the service rooms where John and he had put away his purchase before she questioned him: he intended to bring the cakes to the children living in the street where Nick had spent his first two years.   
‘There’s probably not enough for all of them, I have no idea how many live there. I’ll start with the house I found Nick and distributes the rest as I go along.’  
‘Please tell me you’re not intending to go alone at ‘The sanctuary’.’  
‘Charley wanted to come,’ he said lamely, then added quickly before she started screaming at him, ‘I will take John and my coachman with me and I will make sure that we are armed.’  
‘It’s still a mad scheme. Why don’t you just distribute your cakes at the orphanage, it’s safer and will be appreciated there.’  
‘I know, I have made a donation to the orphanage too. I don’t know if I can make you understand that this is different. When I left that place with Nicky in my arms, I felt at the same time elated because I had rescued my son and wretched because I left the other children behind. The truth is that I intended to go back and buy them out of that place. Hadrian dissuaded me because, for one thing, these children were not orphans. They had been placed there by parents who were paying for their keep and I had no right interfering. We did argue about it. In the end, I realised that he was right of course. I have never forgotten these little mites though and I want to bring them at least a little happiness by distributing these few cakes. I am conscious that the children who were there at the time are probably gone by now because the woman only kept them up to the age of six, but it doesn’t matter, I need to do this.’

Laure stopped arguing. She had been worried about his safety, his intention of going with two armed men reassured her. The arrival of her in-laws created a diversion. She heard the front door opening and the loud voice of the dowager countess resounding in the hall. Laure exchanged a wry look with her brother which said: here we go, now the fun really starts, and she opened the drawing room door and put on a smile on her face to welcome her mother-in-law.  
Alex was already in the hall. He had finished setting the Yule log in the reception room’s huge fireplace. He had not yet lit it. He bowed to his mother, then kissed her forehead respectfully, muttering the usual greetings words before moving to his sister then to her husband. They were accompanied by half a dozen servants as well as the four children. The dowager started to issue orders to the servants and the trunks and bags were taken upstairs immediately. Yannick looked on, amused. They had brought more trucks for a two-day visit than he had for four weeks.  
Introductions were made. Yannick was introduced under his full name of Jean-Baptiste de Courcelles, Comte de Térouanne. He thought amusingly that he had better remember this to answer when addressed during the guests’ stay at the house. The children had made fun of him, bowing mockingly at him, calling him Monsieur le Comte. The dowager looked him up and down, declared that he did not look like his sister in the least.  
Georgiana and William looked harassed, Yannick wondered if the reason was their four young children or the dowager. The eldest child was a girl named Helen who was 6 years old, then came Emma who was four, and the twin boys, Peter and Henry who were three. Yannick introduced his own children who had joined the company with their cousins. Nicky looked at the twins with wonder. They were identical and also wearing identical clothes. He was obviously very confused and fascinated at the same time.   
Laure led the way to the drawing room where tea and coffee were being served. A table had been set aside for the children who were supervised by their nurse at all times. Nick looked delighted to be invited to join them. The two girls had immediately taken to him and there did not seem to be any shyness on the part of any of them. Yannick realised that Nick had never played with children close to his own age since he had brought him home to the manor, this was all new to him. Laure watched him and said softly:

‘Maybe you should think again about Nicky dining with us tonight, he would probably enjoy himself far more at the children’s table than at ours?’  
He nodded in approval. Nick needed to be with children nearer his own age. The sight of him enjoying the company of Alex’s young nephews and nieces reinforced his conviction that he should have him schooled in the village. The alternative for him to be with other children would be a boarding school and he was not prepared to be separated from his son.   
Anna, Louis, and Miss Leary were next to arrive. They too would be staying the night. Louis apologised for spending little time at Grosvenor square with Yannick, he promised to see more of him in the next few days.   
The meal went well, considering. The dowager was an overbearing woman who always had to have the last word. Yannick made sure he did not contradict her for Alex’s sake. He felt sorry for his brother-in-law who was such a pleasant man, a good husband, a good father. And yet she kept on about him leading too quiet a life, not showing up at the right events, the right parties. He should go into politics, she said, pick up his father’s ambitions and make them his.   
She belittled her daughter every time she could and hardly addressed her son-in-law except to remark that four children were plenty enough and she hoped he would now restrain himself. Georgiana flushed in embarrassment, while her husband looked at his mother-in-law and told her calmly that it was none of her business. The dowager put on an offended expression and Yannick smiled at the man. He had not spoken a lot during the meal, and he had thought him a little timid and lacking backbone. He realised just how wrong he had been.   
The export/import trade venture was not mentioned of course. Anna was quiet most of the evening, sharing conversation mostly with Miss Leary. The dowager ignored her as she did the children, Laure had seen that they were situated far from her anyway. After dinner, Laure suggested games as was traditional. The dowager declined, she wished to go bed. Before she went upstairs, she reminded the company that she expected them all to attend mass in the morning.   
After her departure, the atmosphere changed. Adults and children took part in the games, there were giggles and shrieks of pleasure sounding all over the downstairs rooms as they put their hearts into the games. When they had enough, Laure sat at the piano and they sang heartily. The twins had fallen asleep on a sofa, but Nick, Helen, and Emma took part in the games until the singing calmed them down and they finally also dropped asleep next to the twins.   
Eventually, Alex had to remind his guests that it was one in the morning and that they were expected to turn up at St Georges’ in just a few hours. That remark provoked a few groans and winces and after the last drink or two they made their way up to their rooms. Yannick picked up a sleeping Nicky in his arms and managed to get him into bed without waking him up. He did not risk undressing him. Nick was the lucky one, he thought, he was not expected to turn up in the church. Charley and Meredith had been hoping to be able to escape too but after hearing that Angie and Max were going, they felt they had to show solidarity with their cousins.

25th December 1818

3 coaches took the family to church on Christmas morning. Yannick offered his arm to Miss Leary, while Anna linked her arm with her son’s. Alex had his mother on one arm and his wife on the other. The younger children had been left to sleep at the house. The church was getting full rapidly, all who wished to be seen were present as well as the ones who genuinely wanted to celebrate the birth of Jesus.   
Yannick found himself sitting next to Miss Leary, with Laure at his other side. She sat with Alex and the dowager countess at their reserved family pew. Laure signaled some society personalities, whispering names to him. One of them held his attention, lord Vernon. The man who had inherited the title was a far-remote cousin of Hadrian and did not at all look like him. He had a homely face though and did not look like a pretentious man like so many others in that church. Laure whispered that the young woman on his arm was Hadrian’s young niece, it was rumoured that marriage was planned between these two. She whispered other names for his benefit, most of these people lived nearby in this fashionable and expensive part of London. He noticed that he was himself the object of quite a few glances and whispers. He knew that his presence at Laure and Alex’s house was not a secret.   
He was not at ease with the fact that he attracted attention. Last night at dinner, the dowager had asked why his father had never mentioned that Laure had an older brother, and why Louis was titled marquis de Térouanne and not him, he was obviously older than Louis and the higher title should be his. He gave her his best smile and answered:   
‘Simply because my father has cut me off his will, my lady. I am afraid that if you wish to know why, you will have to travel to France and ask him in person, for I will never tell.’  
She frowned: ‘And you do not resent Louis because of it?’  
‘No. I love Louis as dearly as I love Anne-Laure. They are not responsible for our father’s decisions,’ he had been tempted to add, ‘and way of life’ but stopped himself just in time, ‘besides I never use the title, I prefer to distance myself from my father as much as I can.’ His answers seemed to satisfy her curiosity and the subject was dropped much to Anne-Laure’s relief.   
Alex had confided later to him that she had wondered if he had in fact been born out of wedlock and legitimised later by the duke. He had reassured his mother on that issue at least. Yannick had no doubt that others were wondering what caused the rift between father and son and also why the duke had not been seen in England for three years now. Anna and Laure had answered that the duke was ill and Anna’s long stay in France this year had of course been noticed although there were some who wondered why she had chosen to come back rather than remaining abroad to care for her sick husband. The rumours about their separation were strengthened by her return.

As they walked back to their carriages, Yannick was pleased to leave the crowd behind. He knew also that he would be pleased to leave London and its society behind. This was not his world. Laure had stopped to talk to some people outside the church and she invited a young curate back for breakfast at their house. He was a good man, she told her brother, and he would do well to listen to him. Laure knew his opinion concerning religious matters, she herself was a believer although not a devout. She was a Roman Catholic by birth and chose to become an Anglican to her father’s great displeasure when she married Alex. The announcement of this visit did nothing to brighten Yannick’s mood who already had to put up with the dowager. He was glad to climb back in the carriage he had shared with Miss Leary, Anna, and Louis, on the way to the church.  
On the way in, he had talked about the book on girl’s education Miss Leary had recommended to him and of the fact that he was far from convinced that Charley would be happy in a boarding school. Angie, said Louis, had gone to a day school and had enjoyed it, then again it was easier as they lived in London and there was plenty of choices there. The four adolescents had gone to church together in the same carriage, accompanied by a maid. Mary had remained at the house with the younger children. They had also sat next to each other in church, behind the adults, and Yannick had heard some giggling from them and seen the dowager’s cold angry stare. He knew they were in for some telling off without a doubt, especially with Laure inviting a curate back, the dowager would want to show him that she had disapproved of their behaviour.

They entered the house and made their way to the dining room to break their fast. They had not eaten since the previous evening and were pretty hungry by now. The cook had displayed a nice spread of bacon, sausages, loaves of bread and eggs as well as some French pastries. The little ones had already eaten and were away playing in a side room. The adolescents entered the room and made for the table like the adults until the dowager arrived and shouted at them to stop:  
‘You do not deserve to sit at this table after your disgraceful behaviour at church. Go to your rooms where you will be served bread and water and I don’t want to hear from you again today.’

An embarrassed silence fell on the room. The adolescents and their parents just as stunned by the dowager’s words. Yannick recovered first. He did not speak, he simply made his way to Meredith and Charley, put his arms around their shoulders, and led them to the end of the table.   
‘I will sit between you. And we shall talk about your behaviour at church while we are eating our breakfast.’ He said sternly.   
He did not look at the dowager, he did not want her to think that he was challenging her although of course, it was exactly what he was doing. At worse a challenge, at best disrespect for ignoring her order. He knew that unfortunately, he was putting Laure and Alex in a difficult situation by his action, but he was not going to let the dowager have her own way when it came to punishing his children. He alone had that right. They had been wrong to giggle, but it had not lasted more than a few minutes and it did not in his view deserve more than a reminder on how to behave in church.   
The first one to react was the curate Laure had invited. He gave the dowager a deep bow and said:  
‘My lady, this is Christmas time, the season of goodwill, a time for families to enjoy each other’s company. I am sure that the Lord does not look too harshly on high-spirited youngsters who made the effort of coming to celebrate the birth of his son this morning in church.’  
His soothing words gave time to Alex to recover also:  
‘Let’s all eat now. Angie and Max, let’s join your uncle and cousins at the end of the table as you are also concerned with the matter to be discussed.’  
Yannick caught Laure’s mimicking an angry ‘thank you’ to him while she found herself at the other end of the table with her mother-in-law sitting next to her. He lowered his head, unable to hide his grin.

As Yannick had guessed, the cousins had giggled at a parishioner’s looks. He cut Charley off immediately: he did not want to know what caused the giggles. They were wrong to mock a man’s appearance that’s all. He insisted on this fact. Alex wondered if his mother would have objected if they had not done it in a church. Probably not. He did not add anything to Yannick’s admonitions. The youngsters looked suitably subdued by his words and he hoped that his mother at the other end of the table was satisfied. She would not be, he thought wryly, if she had heard Yannick’s actual words which did not mention the fact that the giggle happened during a church service.  
Yannick suggested that the youngsters apologise to the lady dowager if their conduct disturbed her devotions. They agreed sheepishly, glancing a little anxiously at one another. Alex hid his smile, glad that his brother-in-law did not content himself with the telling off and admirative of the way he got them to do the right thing without them resenting him.  
The dowager countess accepted their apologies with good grace. Alex wondered just how much was due to the young curate his wife had invited to share their Christmas day at his house.  
In the end, they had a most enjoyable Christmas day, and later at the traditional dinner, the cook surpassed herself and was well deserving of the praises of her employers. After dinner, the curate, Paul Harrison, approached Yannick who was enjoying a quiet drink by the fireplace. He was watching the little ones playing on the floor and had declined to join in the games that had been set up on several tables in the room. He had made an effort the previous day and played despite his dislike of gaming in general and begged to be exempt today. He had expected the curate to come and talk and welcomed the man.

‘Her ladyship told me of your wish to visit “The sanctuary” tomorrow. She is worried for your safety.’  
‘I know. I have told her that I am not going alone, also she knows I can defend myself. Are you going to try and persuade me to change my mind?’  
Paul Harrison smiled: ‘No, I know when a battle is lost in advance. I’d like to accompany you. I am familiar with the area.’ He was rewarded by the surprised look on Yannick’s face.  
‘You have been before?’  
‘Yes, and I think I know the house you are planning to visit,’ he looked at Nicky who was busy trying to build a tower with the unhelpful twins, ‘her ladyship told me you wish to bring a little happiness to the children living there.’  
‘You feel safe in this district? Maybe your dog collar offers protection?’  
‘Yes, I think it does. I don’t go there to preach; I provide what little help I can. It’s not enough but it’s better than nothing. Your sister is a generous donor, you have the welfare of children in common. I am surprised though that you choose to go to this particular house. Why not simply go to an orphanage?’  
‘Hasn’t my sister told you that I rescued my son from there?’   
Paul stared at him and his eyebrow lifted interrogatingly: ‘Your son?’ he designated Nicky, ‘this young one?’  
‘Yes.’  
‘I see. I must say, it surprises me greatly. I know that children are often reared away from home, but generally, it’s in the country, not in town and certainly not in…,’ he did not continue; Yannick saw that he was embarrassed after seemingly criticizing his betters.   
‘Hovels. That’s the word you wanted to say. I did not send Nicky to be reared at “The sanctuary”. He was born out of wedlock and relatives of his mother’s did. I found out and rescued him. He was in his third year. I don’t know how he survived,’ he shook his head, ‘I did not know such places existed before I went. I often wonder how many of the poor little mites who were brought up with him survived.’  
‘No more, no less than the average child, I’d say. The women who make a business of looking after children are no angels of mercy. Your son probably survived because the woman was not paid a lump sum outright to look after him. Her interest was that he survived because he provided her with a steady income. It’s a sad fact that these women are needed because unmarried or widowed mothers have to leave their brood somewhere to be able to work and earn money. What is unusual in his case is that he was brought up in London. The country is preferable for the survival of children and this is where good society people generally send their offspring.’   
‘I doubt very much that my son’s survival was the preferred option in this case. You seem knowledgeable on this subject. Tell me, the woman who looked after my son only expected to keep him up to the age of six. What would have happened to him after that age? And what of the other children, do mothers come and pick them up then?’  
‘Sometimes. If they don’t the children are sent to workhouses. There are plenty of businesses in London who employ very young children. Starting with chimney sweeps, the children generally start as young as 5. Have you ever seen them at your house?’  
Yannick blushed. He had not. He frowned; it was something he was definitively going to look at.  
‘I don’t know. I will look into it. I have forbidden child labour in my mines and on my lands so if I discover that the chimneys of my house are cleaned by little children, I will act on it. I really do care, you know, I want to make a difference. I know that a few cakes will not do much but if they bring a little happiness to them on St Stephen’s day then it’s worth the effort of going. And the risk. What’s the best time to go there tomorrow then? Laure is lending me a light carriage; we shall come for you.’  
‘Make it at 2.00 and come alone. Your coachman can stay with the carriage,’ he hesitated, ‘you don’t have to tell your sister.’  
Yannick laughed: ‘I won’t. I think my valet will be happy to stay with the carriage too, he was not very keen to accompany me.’  
Laure came to join them. Paul smiled at her, shrugging his shoulders and opening his hands helplessly:  
‘I am sorry, my lady, I did not achieve to convince your brother to change his mind. Nevertheless, he has accepted that I go with him.’  
‘Well, that’s something. No one there will attack a servant of god surely.’

Both men smiled at her, it did not reassure her all that much. She invited them to join the company who was gathering around the piano. The servants had also gathered in the reception room, invited by Laure to join in the musical evening. Angie and Max were going to play the piano and Meredith had his violin ready. Everyone else was expected to sing. Yannick took Nick’s hand and walked with him to the circle. The boy sat down on the floor next to the four siblings.   
It was a pleasurable moment for all of them. The dowager countess joined in, she had a nice singing voice, thought Yannick, and she was putting her heart to the carols. After the singing, the musicians played a little gig and some dancing took place. The evening continued until the early hours of St Stephen’s day. Paul had taken his leave earlier; he was conducting a church service the next morning. Yannick asked questions about the Reverend Paul Harrison to Laure: how had she met him? It had happened in the months that had followed his finding Nick. She had been deeply upset by the state of the child and Yannick’s stories about the place he had been rescued from, so she had decided to involve herself in charities more specifically aimed at helping poor children. The vicar of St Georges had introduced her to Paul, his curate who worked for the charity which patronised the orphanage. Laure contributed financially to the orphanage and she also visited frequently with Paul. He had told her that he visited the poor district of town, bringing what little comfort he could bring, food, second-hand clothing, furniture sometimes when badly needed. Just the man you need, she told Yannick. He agreed.

26th December: St Stephen’s day

St Stephen’s day was the day to give and receive presents. Alex and Anne-Laure distributed their presents to their servants, Yannick did the same to his. The family then exchanged presents between themselves, the children were delighted, they were the ones who received the most presents. Charley had not mentioned her father’s planned visit to ‘The sanctuary’ this day and he hoped that she would not suggest coming with him. He found her in the music room, rehearsing a piano piece with Angie. He was pleasantly surprised that she had shown a renewed interest in the piano. Angie definitely had a good influence on her. He mentioned his going out to distribute his cakes with the Reverend, was she happy staying at home with Angie? She was. She had changed her mind about going to his relief.

Alex’s relatives and Anna and Miss Leary returned to their home after lunch. Louis chose to remain at Alex and Laure’s house. He wanted to spend time with his young nephews and nieces. He wanted to take them out and show them ‘his’ London during the next few days. Laure was pleased that they got on so well together, also she appreciated the peace in the house once they all departed, she had Nicky for herself and was thoroughly pleased with that.   
Yannick picked up Paul at 2.00 as arranged and they arrived at ’The sanctuary’ soon after. Yannick told the coachman to come back from them in one hour and they walked down Old Pye Street. They were dressed soberly, carrying the bags of cakes. Yannick had a brace of pistols on him. He had seen the disapproving look in Paul’s eyes and had ignored it. He remembered only too well his last visit to the area and how unsafe he had felt despite being in the company of Hadrian and Robert Fellowes, both also armed. This time he was alone with a young curate and he was intending to get out of the area alive.

The house was just as he remembered it. The woman was the same, she did not seem to recognise him. Paul explained that they were bringing cakes to the children. She looked surprised but let them in. She had seen Paul before during his charitable trips. The house was dark, the children were inside huddled around the stove. They turned around to look at them. Yannick counted half a dozen children aged from around 2 to maybe 6. He saw little heads in a bed in a corner, babies. He put 2 bags on the table and got the cakes out. In another bag, he had oranges too. The children started to come to the table, curious, their eyes fixing the cakes hungrily. He smiled at them, picked up a cake, and held it towards the nearest child, a little girl, who snatched it from his hand and ran to the wall, clutching it in her fists. Yannick continued his distribution. He noticed the woman’s greedy eyes, he determined to stay until every child had eaten his cakes, he was not going to give her a chance to keep them to sell and buy herself gin or beer.  
They each ate at least 2 cakes each. He hesitated to give them more, he did not want to make them ill with too much food at once. The cakes were rich, full of raisins and plums, and iced with sugar. He had to show them how to peel the oranges, and he helped the younger children who could not manage it. Paul helped too. He also offered a cake and an orange for the woman. She thanked him. Her attitude towards them was very different from the one Yannick remembered, she was not aggressive towards him today. He had not lingered last time and had not seen how the children interacted with her. He was noticing now that they were not afraid of her and yet Nicky had been covered in bruises. He watched the children more carefully; they were neither clean nor combed but he saw no trace of bruises on the small faces watching him intently. He decided to talk to her:

‘You probably don’t remember me; I came nearly 3 years ago in the summer to pick up a little boy. His name was Nicholas Brady.’  
She stared at him:   
‘Aye, I remember. There were two other coves with you, with pistols,’ she sniggered, ‘as you have in your belt now.’  
He ignored her remark about the pistols.   
‘The child had been mistreated. He was full of bruises; he’d also had a broken leg at one point.’  
‘I hit no child unless he deserves it. These were rough years when my man was alive. Did not like the children, only the money they brought, beat them up often. Don’t remember about the broken leg, maybe he just fell, and I didn’t notice. Is the boy all right now?’  
‘Yes, but he will limp all his life. What happened to the children you kept at the same time as Nick?’  
‘Two of them died of fever the following winter. The others have gone to the workhouse except for one boy who’s prentice to a chimney sweep.’  
‘Workhouse of a brothel?’ Yannick asked sharply, he had not forgotten the woman’s words that day.  
‘Workhouse. The brothel was my man’s idea. He sold the attractive ones to a special house. I don’t eat that disgusting bread myself.’  
‘Do you know where that ‘special house’ is by any chance?’  
She looked at him suspiciously. ‘Why do you want to know?’   
‘Just tell me if you know. I’ll pay you well.’  
‘Depends on what you want to do when you know. Is the little one not enough for your amusement, sir, you need more of them?’  
He did not react, but his eyes hardened, and he knew that the woman saw their dangerous glare, he heard Paul’s horrified gasp at the insinuation.  
‘Do you care what I do?’ He said coldly.  
‘Yes. That’s why I make sure the children I keep don’t end up in one of these places.’  
‘I’ll get these places closed down and see the bastards who run them in prison or deported.’  
She laughed at him,   
‘don’t dream, cully. And watch out, you are sailing in dangerous waters.’  
It was his turn to laugh,   
‘I am well used to that.’  
Their visit did not go unnoticed and children from houses in the street came out looking at them hopefully. Paul said that he knew of one other place where children were kept, and he’d like to go while Yannick started to distribute goodies in the street. It did not take long for the bags to be emptied. Yannick promised more for the next day. He would send a cartload of oranges and cakes for the district children. As he was waiting for Paul to return the woman approached him and whispered:   
‘I doubt you’ll manage to close it down, but still, I know one address. 200 hundred pounds?’  
‘I don’t have that sum on me. I can come back with it.’  
‘Not here. Meet me at the ‘Peacock’ tavern tonight at 10.00. I’ll give you the address against the money. Don’t mention it to anyone at all. Not to him either.’ She looked at Paul who was returning.  
He nodded. They departed. As they walked back to their carriage, Paul asked Yannick if he was serious about wanting to close down brothels.  
‘Of course, although I know it won’t be easy to find out which ones are ill-using children.’  
‘No, it won’t. I can only hope that you’ll manage to do it. I wish all brothels could be closed and prostitution stopped altogether. Her ladyship told me that you were taking these children’s welfare very seriously, I must admit I did not realise how far you were willing to go to protect children. Is it indiscreet to ask if this is related to your young son’s unfortunate start in life?’  
‘Yes and no. It goes back a very long way. As far back as my own childhood in fact. I won’t elaborate on that if you don’t mind. Then when I was abroad, I rescued Meredith from slavers. He was 6 at the time and had been mistreated. As I told you earlier, I will not have children forced to work on my estate. I am paying for a school and an orphanage in the village. I did not realise though the extent of children’s poverty until I found about Nick’s existence and discovered the place he was being brought up.’  
Paul frowned: ‘Had you never been to London or heard of those places before?’  
‘Not really, no.’

He did not say anymore. He had known about poverty, seen beggars in the streets, but he had never been confronted with the harsh reality of slums and starving children. He could not explain without telling Paul too much about himself, about his early life in environments that had protected him from the outside world until he was 15. He had been sheltered from the sights of poverty during his childhood, living in a château, travelling in coaches, staying away from the masses. He had never been hungry or cold. At college, he had lived in closeted comfort and had only discovered the cold reality of how the majority of people lived after he was thrown out in the streets of Brest. He had seen poverty then, and he had discovered how hard it was to feed oneself with little money in his pocket, but his hardship had not lasted long, he had enrolled in the navy where he was fed and clothed for years. After his successful cruise as a captain, he had become a hero, invited by the country’s politicians who had transformed his life story for propaganda. He was now ashamed to realise how much they had used him, playing on his pride and on some arrogance caused when too much success comes early to a young and far too handsome man. His life had changed after Trafalgar and Julia’s betrayal. He had brutally been brought down to earth and reality. He also had a daughter to care for now. Her welfare and later the welfare of Meredith had been his main worries after getting back to France.

He had been ashamed of his ignorance when he had recovered Nicky with Hadrian and had greatly increased his involvement in charitable pursuit because what was the point of believing in this ideal of liberty, equality, and fraternity if not living one’s life accordingly.   
He saw the puzzled look that Paul gave him. At least he understood better than to ask further questions. They found their carriage and they returned in silence to Paul’s lodgings. Paul agreed to accompany him again on the next day for further distribution of cakes and oranges. Yannick respected the woman’s wish and said nothing about meeting her later tonight. He just hoped that it was not a trap.   
He spent the rest of the day touring the markets with a small cart and buying the oranges and apples he intended to deliver the next day. He also put orders, paid for in advance, in several bakeries and confectioners for the huge amount of bread and cakes he required, and would collect next afternoon. Then he came back to the house, excused himself just after dinner, and left for his meeting at the ‘Peacock’. He told John where he was heading for, ‘just in case,’ he said. John was not too pleased with his employer’s destination, but he said nothing, trusting him to have a good reason for going down to a tavern by the river so late at night.

It was not a trap. He gave the woman the £200 she asked for and got the address in return. She told him that he would need to show he had plenty of money to be given access to a child. The madam was very suspicious, they knew their activity was against the law.   
Yannick made his way to the address in question. It looked like any upmarket brothels he’s seen before. He stayed in the shadows of a porch nearby to observe. A carriage stopped by the door and three well-dressed gentlemen came out. The doorman had a brief peek through a little window and let them in. Yannick saw him bow deeply with a big smile on his face before the door closed again. What the woman had told him put him in a quandary. He could show his money of course and ask for a child but what then? He would not be able to just go out with the child, and what about the others? He needed a plan of action before showing his face there and he returned to Laure’s house for now.  
He had expected to find the house occupants asleep by the time he returned. This was not so. Laure and Alex were obviously waiting for him. It was hardly surprising, he had been away all afternoon, returned just to get changed, and had gone out again after a quick diner, and it was now well past midnight. He smiled at them, Laure was probably not going to like what he intended to do, not that it was going to stop him doing it. So, he accepted the glass of Port that Alex offered then sat down and told them about his day.

‘And who do you think can help you with this?’ asked Laure.  
‘Robert Fellowes. I will visit him in the morning and ask if he thinks I have a chance to succeed. He is back working as a runner now and there is one magistrate, he thinks a lot of at Lincoln’s inn. You must not worry; I will do nothing without talking it through with him first. I don’t intend breaking the law.’  
‘This time.’ Said Laure, ‘I can’t imagine you not intervening knowing that children are being abused in that place. But what if they can’t do anything?’  
‘I am sure they can. These activities are illegal and if for any reason they find their hands tied I will not hesitate to make a scandal and going to the newspapers with the story.’   
Laure groaned. Of course, he would not hesitate. She couldn’t help admiring him for it. Alex promised his help; he was hopeful that the magistrate would listen.

27th December 1818

Breakfast was quieter this morning with only Laure’s and Yannick’s family around the table. They discussed their plans for the day. Alex was going back to the dockyard and was planning to spend his day there, Laure was going to take Nicky out, Louis and the 4 cousins were also going out. Mary was not going to be needed again today, but Yannick asked John to help him with collecting his purchases later in the day as well as going to deliver them. They would pick up Paul on their way. This morning though, Yannick was going to see Robert and hopefully meet the magistrate he worked for.  
Just as he was about to leave the house a messenger brought a letter for Charley. He waited to see what it was about before leaving. Charley read the small letter quickly: it was from her mother as expected. She was suggesting that Charley called on January 2nd, she was far too busy to see her before. Charley wrote a quick note to accept and gave it to the messenger who had been told to wait for her answer. Laure did not comment but her expression and the way she shook her head said volume as to what her opinion of Julia was.

Yannick was in luck: Robert was at home. He was still living in the two-rooms flat Yannick knew at King's cross. He listened to what Yannick had to say and agreed that they had to do something to stop this wrongdoing. He proposed to take him to see the magistrate this morning and expose the crime to him.  
The magistrate received them; Robert introduced Yannick as a gentleman from Cornwall visiting his sister, Lady Durfield, for Christmas and a father concerned with the welfare of children. The magistrate listened attentively to Yannick’s story. Yannick missed out the fact that he had rescued his son from ‘The sanctuary’, he simply said that he had accompanied a young curate during a charitable errand to distribute some treats to the children from poor areas and had talked to one woman who had brought his attention to the fate of some of the children who fell into the hands of brothel keepers.  
He reported going to the address the woman had given him and seen that it was a brothel catering for a higher class of men than the miserable establishments one could find by the river in the worst area of town.

The magistrate nodded thoughtfully: he had heard of such places where children were exploited. To have an address, he said, was all well and good, but how were they to know for sure if children were kept there? If the place catered for rich and powerful men, he could not easily send constables in without suffering the ire of influential men.  
‘We have thought about this,’ said Robert, ‘Mr. de Courcelles would go in as a client and ask to be presented with some very young prostitutes. He will use the name of a man who we know is dead and who used to provide children to this specific brothel. If no child is presented to Mr. de Courcelles then he will leave the brothel and we will assume that the information we were given is untrue. On the other hand, if he is presented with children then he will pay for one night at the place and remain there. After a few hours of waiting if Mr. Courcelles does not come out then we will be certain that unlawful activities are taking place and we could ask the constables to intervene.’  
‘It is a good plan. Before I agree to it, I need to ask if you have made provision for the aftermath?’  
Robert and Yannick frowned:   
‘What aftermath, sir? I don’t quite understand,’ said Yannick.  
‘The children, sir. It’s all very well rescuing children from a brothel but what is going to happen to them afterwards? They will be too old to go to the Foundling and who is going to offer an apprenticeship to a child who has lived as a prostitute for maybe several years? Furthermore, some of them might even prefer this way of life which provides them with some comfort as well as good food and security.’  
‘Security!’ Shouted Yannick, outraged. ‘Sir, you cannot hint that these children are better off where they are!’  
The magistrate smiled at the outburst.  
‘Of course not. But some of them might think that it’s an easier life than to face starvation outside the brothel; surely you must see that we have to plan for their future as well. They just cannot be left to cater for themselves in the streets after we close the brothel, or they’ll go right back into prostitution.’  
‘You are right, I can see that. The clergyman who accompanied me is involved in several charities and he can probably help in securing accommodation until we can offer them a decent apprenticeship. I’ll pay.’  
‘Even though you don’t know how many children and for how long? It could be very expensive.’  
‘I know. I’ll pay. I can afford it, my business is doing very well,’ Yannick grinned, ‘especially at this time of the year!’  
‘I’d prefer it if you did not involve a newcomer. I am sure that this clergyman of yours can be trusted, but unfortunately, informers can catch on unusual activities. A clergyman suddenly asking around for a place to house children after visiting “The Sanctuary” might sound suspicious to some. Their illicit activity runs high stakes and high risks, they’ll stop at nothing to keep it secret.’ Said the magistrate.  
‘What about my sister? Can I involve her? She helps in charities and she knows a lot of people.’  
‘Yes, I think we can trust your sister to be careful in her search, indeed they’d have to be very bright to make the connection between a clergyman visiting “The Sanctuary” and a high society lady doing her charity visits in her parish. Let me know tomorrow if she can help, and if she can, we shall plan the operation for the night 29th to 30th if it suits you both?’  
Robert and Yannick both approved and after convening of a new meeting they left the magistrate’s office.  
Yannick went home to talk to Laure straight away. Time was primordial; now that he knew of the possible plight of children in the brothel, he did not want to expose them any longer. Laure understood. She knew of a widow who might be able to help. She owned a large house she could not afford to keep without taking on lodgers. The woman was quite active in their charity society. Laure thought that she might agree to house the children for a night or so until they could be placed somewhere more suitable. They would have to find someone to look after them in the house though, one of her own maids could help, said Laure. Yannick thought of asking Mary too.

By the time he met Paul with the cart full of bags of food for the children, their plan to accommodate the children was secure. Mary had been more than pleased to accept her employer’s proposition. Laure had called on Mrs. Owen and had told her of her need for short time accommodation for some troubled children. The money that Laure was offering was too good for her to turn down, therefore she told Laure that she would do it. Laure did not want to be dishonest with her, so she did reveal that the children were employed in a brothel. Mrs. Owen was shocked, but accepted, nevertheless. A note was sent to the magistrate and to Robert that same day to inform them of the good news before they set up with the cart to do their good deeds.  
Charley had insisted to come with her father this time, she wanted to help, and Yannick had also taken John with them. There was only space for John and Charley on the cart seat, so Yannick and Paul walked by its side to Old Pye Street. No sooner than they’d got there, they were surrounded by a hopeful crowd of children and they started to hand out the content of their bags. Charley helped from the cart. John joined them at the back. They did not have enough food to go around of course because children from other streets had also gathered there. It saddened him to have to leave with some of them empty-handed. He distributed every coin he had in his purse instead. Paul guessed how he felt:  
‘You cannot keep this going you know. You could bring ten carts here every day and still find some wanting at the end of the day.’  
‘It’s that bad?’  
‘Yes, and these last two years have been the worst with crops failing and the price of bread ever-increasing,’ Paul hesitated then added, ‘why don’t you go into politics? Try to make a difference with the lawmakers?’  
Yannick shook his head negatively:   
‘No. I would not last an hour among politicians! Besides, I am not English.’  
‘Oh! Of course, I forgot that her ladyship was French.’  
Yannick smiled:   
‘It’s all right. Anyway, it’s not my worst impediment you know,’ his smile became mischievous, ‘although I was born a Roman Catholic, I divorced my wife. I am also an atheist and a Republican and I spent nearly 20 years of my life fighting against England.’  
Paul had the good grace of not looking shocked.   
‘And yet here you are, giving out charity to your old enemy’s poorest children.’  
‘Children are children anywhere in the world and they should never have to suffer because of adults. Whether through the foolishness of war or else.’  
Yannick had forbidden Charley to climb down from the cart during the distribution of food. John had stayed close to her while Paul and Yannick were talking. Yannick climbed at the back of the now-empty cart and helped Paul to join him then he gave John a sign to move on. He did not promise to come back the next day as he had yesterday. Paul was right, he could not solve the problems this way much as it pained him to come to terms with it. He would contribute to the charities that Paul worked with instead.

He now had to think about the brothel’s children: it was a specific evil and he knew he could make a long-lasting difference to these children’s lives by his actions. He felt guilty about not telling Paul about his meeting on the previous night and the plan to rescue the children, but the magistrate had stressed that information of their planned action had to remain known by the least possible number of persons to avoid leaks. His own men were only going to be told what they were going to do on the night. ‘We have informers,’ had said the magistrate, ‘unfortunately, villains in high places have theirs also and they can afford to pay, so some get tempted.’  
The four adolescents had been told that they were not dining with their parents tonight. Charley did not complain which surprised Meredith. The girl had been quiet since she’d return from ‘The Sanctuary’. As she sat on the cart, children had touched her dress and her shoes with their grubby hands, and she had felt uncomfortable looking into their eyes. She had not liked what she’d read in the older children’s expression: envy, anger too. She had sought her father’s embrace for a few minutes after they had gone into the house and murmured to his ear that she realised how lucky she was to be his daughter and how proud she was of him. It had moved Yannick deeply. If anything was going to encourage him to continue in following the path he had chosen, it was his darling daughter’s approval.

Robert and the magistrate joined them for dinner that night to talk of their plan. They decided that Anne-Laure and Mary would check on the accommodation in the morning and see if something more was needed before the children were dropped there by the constables. The difficulty was that they had no idea how many children were involved. The woman Yannick had talked to had said that only the prettiest children had been selected over the years and she did not know how many because her husband used to get ‘supplies’ as he called them from other areas as well. She did not think there would be many though because he only selected one or two every year.   
Yannick shivered at the thought that Nick, with his big beautiful green eyes and blond curls, would have been one of them. Alex was going to help by joining Robert and the constables during the raid on the brothel on the following night. For one thing, they would be able to identify Yannick who was going to play the customer. The constables were going to arrest every man on the premises after their raid and Robert and Alex would make sure that Yannick did not fall foul of an overzealous constable at the time of the arrests.   
The magistrate offered to bring the date forward to the next day, 28th instead of 29th, if Lady Durfield was satisfied with the accommodation. He could get a team ready to act if her ladyship sent him a note telling him of her decision by lunchtime. They agreed on it. Yannick was more than happy: it would spare the children one night of pain.

28th of December

Anne-Laure already liked the widow and she liked her house. It was a large rambling place and the widow rented some rooms to tenants. She was particularly regarding in her choice of guests she said. There were 3 young gentlemen working in the city in the second-floor bedrooms and two elderly ladies who had a little pension and did some sewing and embroidery from their room on the first floor. The last floor of the house, under the eaves, was empty. It used to be the servant’s quarters but the widow had not rented these out, she had been thinking of it and had the rooms cleaned for that purpose. They were suitable for children as temporary accommodation. There were 8 good rooms in all, one of them being quite large as it also used to be the nursery and Anne-Laure was sure that it would be enough. She had brought one of her maids with Mary and the two women would get the rooms ready. They would remain with the children at all times after they were taken to the house. Louis who wanted to be part of the operation suggested that he and one of the coachmen, a sturdy no-nonsense man should also stay in case one of the children decided to bolt.

Mrs. Lucy Owen was in her late forties. She was childless. Her husband had been a tradesman who had inherited a thriving business from his father. Unfortunately, he had been keener to spend time on the gaming tables than in his warehouses and when faced with bankruptcy he had taken his own life. Widowed and without income, Lucy Owen had moved back to her father’s house and after his death three years later, she had inherited his place. The house was all that her father had left her. During his lifetime already, they had struggled with the bills even though they had only kept one cook and one jack-of-all-trade to help with the upkeep of the large rambling place. Her father had refused to sell it, it was the only thing he had left from his once rich and powerful family and his pride forbade him to let it go. Lucy had hesitated a long time before deciding to keep it also. She had no children to pass it on, all she had were memories of a happy childhood and she felt that she could not ever be at peace somewhere else. She would not betray her father’s memory by selling and moving away. Once this decision had been taken, she was faced with the reality which was to live miserably in a big cold house or to find a way to make enough money to be comfortable.   
The solution came to her at church one day when she overheard one of the ladies talking about her nephew who was looking for decent accommodation. The young man was coming from the country to work in London and his mother had solicited her sister to help find him somewhere to stay. The lady was distraught because her house was not large enough for her to accommodate her nephew herself.  
Lucy knew the lady sufficiently well to allow herself to intervene in the conversation. She proposed to lodge the young man at her house. The aunt was overjoyed, Lucy was an appreciated member of the community, with a high moral standard, who would not permit immoral goings-on at her house.  
Lucy decided that her house was big enough to welcome more guests. With the help of some good-willed gentlemen, the second-floor bedrooms were cleaned and aired, bedding and other soft furniture were renewed, and the bedrooms were, therefore, ready to welcome guests. She advertised in a newspaper and was more than pleased with the response she got. Three more gentlemen joined the first one and she found herself with a dilemma because ladies had also shown an interest: she could not possibly accommodate them on the same floor, so she opened up the first floor rooms she was not using and made four more bedrooms there. Guests came and went over the two years since she started her renting business and by the time Lady Durfield, herself a well-known figure of the community, approached her she had just three gentlemen and two ladies in the house, so the proposition was more than welcomed.

By nightfall all was ready. Yannick had taken a nap in the afternoon, knowing he had a sleepless night ahead of him. There were questions asked from the four youngsters who had understood that something was up with their parents. They were told that some children were in danger and that they were going to try and rescue them. No mention was made of brothels of course. They were much too young to know about these places although Alex suspected that his son was probably not as innocent as he hoped he would be. Other college boys with older brothers would have opened his eyes on the matter. Anyway, they thankfully did not pursue their questioning.


	18. A lively end to the year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yannick sets up to rescue children, he is faced with an unexpected betrayal and with temptation.

Night raid 28th to 29th December

He had not known what to expect. He had not thought that he was going to have to make a choice. Choose between these six children which one he could save from evil tonight.  
He had gone early to the brothel and his expensive clothes and arrogant air had gained him immediate attention from the hostess. He had been told the price for the services and had opened his purse to let her see his gold. She had taken him to a small sitting room and had offered to get him a drink while the girls were being presented to him. He accepted the drink and waited to see the parade. The girls presented were pretty, although heavily made-up with see-through dresses and false smiles. The youngest was probably in her late teens, not underaged, though. He sent them back and begged the madam to approach. He whispered in her ear that they were much too old for his taste and that he was surprised that males were not on offer; he had heard from a friend that such particular services could be obtained here. When madam asked the friend’s name, Yannick gave her the name of the dead provider from the slums.  
She sent the girls back. She then informed Yannick that the price was ten times higher for what he was asking for. He would gladly pay if the goods were worth it, he said.  
Six children were sent down. There were two boys and four girls. The ages ranged between six or seven and eleven or twelve. They were dressed simply in white, not made up at all, looking as innocent and virginal as possible considering the place they were in. All six had long hair falling freely onto their shoulders. He had not expected so many. He could not possibly take all six to a bedroom, it would be suspicious and that meant that maybe some other men were going to use the ones he had discarded before the constables could raid the brothel. He felt dreadful but managed to keep up his aloof attitude as he thought about his dilemma. He told the hostess negligently that he found it difficult to make up his mind so that he would take the two youngest up and pay for the whole night.  
The woman looked delighted at his words; he could see her thinking that the evening business was starting most auspiciously.  
Yannick opened his purse and counted the gold to her, making sure that she saw that he had plenty more left in there. Then he paid for a bottle of wine and three glasses to be brought to the room as was expected and stood up.  
Upon the hostess’s gesture, the youngest, one boy and one girl made their way up the stairs.  
Once the door was shut the two children stood still in front of him and he had enough experience to see the fear in their eyes although they did not move or cry. He wanted to hug them like he hugged Nick when he was upset but he knew that this was definitely not the right thing to do.  
So instead, he told them gently that he was not going to touch them or ask them to undress for him. They could sit on the bed if they wished and he promised to go nowhere near. He sat in the armchair and waited for the wine to be brought up. The children did as they were told and when Yannick opened the door to the servant bringing the order, she saw them on the bed. Yannick had taken his coat and cravat off and he gestured for her to put the tray on the table.

As soon as she was gone, he locked the door and dressed himself fully again. He sat back into the armchair and asked them their names and ages. Lizzy spoke first, she was just eight, she said, then she added that Jamie was only seven and that he was new. Jamie’s eyes were bright with the tears he was desperately trying to hold back. He looked younger than seven, frail and pale. Yannick repeated his previous words: they were safe with him; he was not going to touch them. Lizzy asked innocently if he wished them to touch him instead. He recoiled in shock then said no, he wanted nothing like that from them. Unexpectedly Lizzy started to cry. If he was displeased with them the Madam was going to beat them up.  
‘But I am not displeased. Not at all. I came because I wanted to tell you stories. Would you like to hear stories? My children like them.’  
They watched him suspiciously, they did not believe him, he thought. Still, they stayed on the bed and waited patiently for his next move. He smiled again than started with the story Charley had liked best when she was little, he got their attention. As he went on talking, he saw them starting to relax and get engrossed in his words. He lost track of time. He was brought back to reality when he heard rapid knocks on the door and a very anxious voice asking him to leave the room in the shortest time possible.

That was it. Robert and the constables must have barged their way inside the brothel. He went to the door and listened. By now angry shouts could be heard from downstairs as well as the sound of running in the corridors and the stairs. He waited another five minutes before opening the door. A man appeared and told him to go downstairs and leave the children to him. He was not to worry, he said. Behind him, looking frightened, were the four other children he had been presented earlier. The man ordered Lizzy and Jamie out, they were to follow the others. Men and girls were hurrying past them on their way down to the ground floor from where louder angry and offended voices could be heard. Obviously, some men were very cross to have their evening entertainment disrupted so rudely by the constables.   
Yannick hesitated. He had planned to keep the children with him, but he was not sure that the other four would accept to enter his room. Besides, Lizzy and Jamie had obeyed the man immediately. They were clearly afraid of him. Yannick left the room too and followed, seemingly making for the stairs, while looking ahead to see where the children were taken. Maybe there were back stairs and door by which they could be taken out. The man did not go down, he made for the next flight of stairs going up, instead. No way out then.   
More men and girls were rushing down now from the upper floor, jostling him in their rush to get downstairs as quickly as they could. He hurried up the stairs instead of following them down, he did not want to lose sight of the children. By the time he reached the top floor, no-one was coming down any longer. He just got to the landing in time to see the man lock the last door at the end of the corridor before entering the room closest to it. Yannick walked silently toward the doors. Most were opened, their occupants having left precipitately. He heard breaking noises from the room the man had entered and when he heard that the door was opening again, he managed to slip in another room next to it just in time to remain unseen.

Yannick had left his door slightly ajar. The man stood outside in the corridor for a while, in front of the open door. A strong smell of burning reached Yannick. He understood. What better way to get the constables out and the now undesirable children disappear than with a good fire?   
Revolted, he stormed out. The man, in surprise, dropped the lighted lamp and the clothes he was holding onto the floor. Yannick punched him hard and the man’s head hit the opposite wall. Yannick hit him again and again, his suppressed anger now getting the better of him. He stopped when the man fell down after losing consciousness. He stamped out most of the flames from the clothes that started to burn on the floor but realised that the flames had by now engulfed the whole bedroom and were going to spread to the corridor anyway.   
He knew he could not stop the fire in the room. He closed the door to gain a little time, stamped out the remaining flames from the corridor and moved to get the children out. Their door was locked. It was a sturdy door too. He kicked it to little effect. Frustrated, he returned to the room he had been in earlier seeking something he could use to break it down. A heavy stool caught his attention. The door where the fire was lit was burning brightly, smoke filling the corridor, flames would spring out within minutes. He hit the panels relentlessly until they finally broke down. He managed to get inside. The children were huddled in panic near the window, as far away from the door as they could. A scream made him jump. The man had regained consciousness and he was on fire. He staggered up and rushed down towards the stairs but stumbled and fell before he reached them. Most of the corridor was now alight effectively cutting out their escape route.  
It would not take long for the smoke and flames to reach their room too. He could feel the heat from the wall.   
First gain time. He closed the damaged door and covered the gap at the bottom with bedsheets against smoke. He pushed a wardrobe against it to halt the fire from coming inside, then he went to the window. Two stories high. Too high for the children to jump and furthermore they were situated at the back of the building and no-one was down on the ground to hear them shout. There was so much noise anyway that he doubted that even the alarm whistle Robert had given him would be useful.  
There were sheets on the bed. He opened the wardrobe, they were in luck, it was full of linen. This room was more a storeroom than a bedroom it seemed. He turned to the children.

‘Listen, I know you are frightened, but you must trust me, and I will get you out. We shall make a rope and climb down by the window.’  
Lizzy’s eyes widened, ‘but it’s too high, sir!’  
‘No, don’t worry, it will be all right. Remember the story I told you about my young daughter Charley and how she climbed all the way down from a ship’s yard to the deck? She was about your age when she did this and I assure you it was just as high as this window. You can do it; I will take you down safely. I promise.’  
As he talked, he took the sheets out and started to tear them lengthwise into three strips he then plaited tightly. The eldest girl started to help him and soon they all joined in. He tied the plaids together as they went along. It was taking some time, but he hoped it would make a sturdier rope than to risk the sheets tearing while they were climbing down.   
The room was getting hotter and hotter. Thankfully the window of the room on fire next door was closed and far enough for the fire to not spread to their own. Still, he did not delude himself that they had time on their hands. Soon, smoke would be seeping underneath the wardrobe from the door and the fire would break out to their room.  
At last the braiding was finished. He checked the rope; it was long enough to reach the ground. The children helped him push the large bed to the window and Yannick tied his rope securely to its legs. It was ready. The eldest girl volunteered to go down first. Yannick did not trust the children to be able to slide down his makeshift rope, two-storey was a big drop for them, so he wrapped the end bit of his rope around the girl’s waist, told her to hold on tight to the length in front of her and let him take her down. She watched him put the rope over his shoulders and take hold of it just above her hands: ‘Come on, sit on the window ledge, be brave, I’ve got you.’ She obeyed, he saw her close her eyes as he started to lower her down slowly, bracing himself against the wall near the window, letting his shoulders take most of her weight.   
Once she was on the ground, she quickly untied the knot he’d made, and he retrieved his rope for the next child. He repeated the operation with the following three older children; he had asked them to wait for him in the shadows in case some of the men from the brothel came to snatch them back or worse. He was pleased to see that they obeyed him.   
He sensed that it was going to be more difficult for the two younger children. Lizzy told him that she did not believe that she was as brave as his Charley. She was in fact terrified, clinging to him after he’d sat her on the window ledge. He spoke to her gently, told her to close her eyes and hold the rope as tight as she could and finally, she did not struggle and at the end she reached the ground safely too. He was left with Jamie, the youngest and most terrified child. Jamie had withdrawn into a corner despite the heat coming from the wall, too frightened to go near the window.

Another tactic was needed there. Yannick realised that he was getting very short of time too. The heat in the room was now nearly unbearable, it was filling up with smoke too, soon he would not be able to breathe, he did not have time to coax a terrified child to be lowered down on his own and then come down the rope himself after that. Both their lives were in danger. He made another length of rope working as fast as he could:  
‘You are going down with me,’ he said firmly, ‘I am going to tie you to me, you will put your arms around my neck, and I shall get us both out of here.’  
The boy did not move at first, Yannick got him out of his corner and tied the new rope first around the child’s waist before he lifted him and told him to wrap his arms around his neck before wrapping the rope tightly around the both of them: he did not trust the child to have enough strength to hold on to him without a line. The boy’s legs went around his waist, at least he got that right on his own, thought Yannick. He hid his apprehension to the child; the rope had held for the children, but he was much heavier and his hands were hurting badly by now. Still, he thought, there was no other way so, he climbed out of the window and climbed down hoping for the best; before he knew it, his feet had reached the ground and he was surrounded and hugged by six grateful children.  
They were in the back yard of the brothel. They moved as far away from the building as they could. Looking up they saw that the whole top floor was on fire and that it had started to come through windows on the floor below too. They had got out just in time. There were buildings on both sides of the yard enclosing it, but the back was a high wall with a big sturdy door. He entered a shed, found an axe and started hacking on the door.   
On the other side of it, he found a small dark back alley. He walked out and asked the children to follow him, holding hands. He was holding Jamie’s in his and the eldest child closed their line. They continued walking along the back of buildings until they reached a narrow passage leading to the street of the brothel. He insisted that they were not to run away from him. He was hoping that because they had been locked in that place for a while, they would not dare escape from him, not knowing where to go next. He insisted that they had to trust him, and they would be safe. They did not let go of their hands linked together.   
He then took a bosun’s whistle out of his pocket. Robert had given it to him to signal his presence. He had thought of using it in the room upstairs and had decided against when he had realised that help could not come from within the house. It was different now. He blew long and hard on the whistle and was rewarded by sound of running feet coming towards them.

Alex reached them first, relief and happiness on his face.  
‘You’ve done it! Thank God, you’re safe and so are the children! We have a carriage waiting to take them to safety just in the next street.’ He said.  
He led the way. Five minutes later, they got to the carriage where Mary was waiting. They climbed in, Yannick went with them, Alex was going to give the word to Robert and the magistrate about the success of their adventure.  
The carriage rattled away in the dark streets to the house of the widow where they were expected. As soon as the carriage stopped, Laure, her maid and Louis appeared at the door to welcome and help them. The children were quickly brought inside the house. They were first taken to the large kitchen downstairs and offered food and drink if they wished. Yannick had not managed to get them to speak in the carriage. He had explained that they would not go back and work in a brothel again. He would provide accommodation for them and apprenticeship of a proper job. They did not comment. Lizzy and Jamie looked about to fall asleep, the four others looked upon him with suspicion in their eyes and even resentment from the eldest girl.  
It hurt him more that he let on. Mary distracted him when she asked if she could care for his hands. He looked at them, his palms and fingers were an angry red colour with the skin broken in places because of the rope chaffing. His knuckles were bruised and bleeding from hitting the man. He let her care for him. She cleaned his hands, coated the wounds with honey then wrapped them in clean bandages. He watched his hands totally swathed in white and declared himself useless for anything more tonight, including undressing. Laure reminded him that he had a valet whose function was precisely to undress his master. It was not undressing that bothered him but rather performing other more private bodily functions; he laughed at the thought of John’s face if he told him to help with these.   
After their collation, the children were taken to their rooms. The rescuers decided to put Lizzy and Jamie together in one room, the three older girls in another and the boy alone in yet another. The rooms were warm, and the beds were clean and soft. Mary and the maid had got together a collection of new, crisp, fresh-smelling nightshirts they distributed to them. The children lost no time in picking the right sized-ones and were off to bed straight away.  
Mary and the maid stayed on while Yannick and Laure returned to her house. On the way, he described how he had got the children out. He was tired all of a sudden now that the danger had passed and the operation a success. His shoulders ached dreadfully too. He realised that it had been a close call at the end. Laure hugged him, told him how proud she felt.  
Alex had returned at the house just before them. Robert had taken charge of the brothel’s staff and marched them to prison despite their vehement protests: brothels were not illegal they said. No, unless children were abused, he replied. Yannick would lead the magistrate to the safe house next morning so that he could speak to the children, he was also required to write down an account of the night events, not now though, all he wanted was his bed. His hands, shoulders, neck and upper back painful, he welcomed John’s help with undressing but not with the chamber pot: his pride got the better of him there. He sometimes thought of the time when Ethan and Loïk had helped him pee after he’d had drunk so much alcohol that he had put his life in danger. He had been mostly unconscious then and when he had found out he had been mortified.

29th of December

The next morning, breakfast was a noisy affair. The four cousins asked why Louis was not with them and how had Yannick got his hands hurt. The bandages had been changed this morning to lighter ones, leaving his fingers free this time, but Nicky had looked frightened and Yannick had had a difficult job reassuring the young child. The adults could not avoid answering the questions, they related the night events, calling the brothel a ‘pleasure house for adults’, which brought a giggle out of Max and Meredith. Their aim had been to save ill-treated children, they said. Out of the four, Meredith gave his father a look which told him that he knew exactly what kind of ill-treatment these children had been subjected to.   
As Yannick was about to leave the house, Meredith joined him in the hall and said he wanted to accompany him and help.   
‘I know what they went through,’ he said, ‘I am sure I can help them.’  
Yannick hesitated before he agreed, worried that Meredith might be too disturbed by the stories he was going to hear. Meredith understood his father’s concern, he spoke to him sensibly about his own need to help these unfortunate children too if he could; Yannick relented, furthermore, with his hands in the state they were, writing was impossible, and Meredith’s presence would be useful.   
At the magistrate’s court, Yannick dictated his statement to a clerk. Meredith made a copy at the same time for his father. Sir William assured him that his statement would not be read in the trial; it concerned the operation and he wanted to avoid the public, and the other brothel owners know that they had sent someone in to check if children were used or not. He did not want the other establishments to grow suspicious and prevent him using the same trick again in the future. None of the clients had been held after the night raid, none had been caught with a child.

The magistrate knew that the staff at the brothel were not concerned by their arrest, persuaded that the children had died and that the client who had asked for a child had managed to escape. He interrogated them with Yannick listening in from an adjacent room regarding the presence of children on the premises; they did not deny this and insisted that the children were apprentices to be maids or doorkeepers. They swore that none were worked as prostitutes. The Madam even wiped a tear, she was so sorry that they had died so awfully in their room at the top of the house; and no-one knew how the fire had started. The magistrate nodded thoughtfully and said with a smile:  
‘Then you will be happy to know that all six children are safe and sound.’  
The woman froze. She glanced at the others sat by her side with panic in her eyes.  
‘Only one man died in our operation and we believe that he had started the fire on purpose,’ he added, ‘he was found at the top of the stairs on the top floor. That was where the children were kept. They were locked in a room furthest away from the escape route and the fire was started in the room next to theirs. It was so fierce and sudden that we think it was started deliberately. What do you have to say to that?’  
Not one of them spoke. Yannick was listening from next door, no doubt they were wondering how much the magistrate knew and how he had found out. There were suspicion in their eyes as they looked at each other: maybe one of them had spoken in exchange for leniency. Let them worry, he thought, and talk to try and save themselves. Hopefully, Sir William would manage to get them all convicted for their crimes.

After the magistrate finished his interrogation, the accused were taken back to jail while he joined Yannick and Meredith to go to the house and talk to the children. Robert was also coming with them. At the house, Louis reassured them that the night had been quiet, the children had slept well and had enjoyed a good breakfast. Louis, Mary and the maid had eaten with them and the widow had also sat down at the table. The suspicion that Mary had seen in the eyes of the older children the previous night had mostly disappeared. Only the eldest girl and boy kept an unhappy, resentful look on their faces.  
The widow had asked the girl why she was unhappy: she was safe, fed and warm, what else did she need? The girl admitted that it was the case and after hesitation she said she would have preferred to stay at the brothel. At the moment, she had one or two customers every night, regulars, she said, and she was not paid for her work but Madam had promised her that in only two or three years she would be old enough to join the regular girls, she would get paid according to the clients she attracted, she would wear pretty dresses and expensive perfumes, could get her hair combed in the latest fashion, she said, she would be given good food and nice wines to drink while she entertained the gentlemen. The gentlemen who bedded her were not so bad she said, she had grown to enjoy some of them and she’s rather live this way than to toil in factories for twelve or fourteen hours a day to earn just a few pennies, not even enough to eat properly.  
Mary shook her head despairingly, ‘but what about the many men you’d have to service every night? What about violent men, what about the diseases you’d catch, the abortions you’d have? And when your looks would no longer catch the eyes of the customers how long before they throw you out onto the streets do you think?’  
The girl shrugged. ‘What do you know about that? You’re a maid.’  
‘I am yes. But for two years I worked in a tavern by the river and I’ve seen women old before their time who had chosen the life you describe. The ‘good time’ did not last long at all, the wine they drank spoiled their looks and muddled their brains. When they were thrown out their only way of earning a few pence was to service men in street corners. I have seen plenty who had dreamt of catching the eyes of a client hoping to be set up as a mistress in a nice place but finished dead in the gutter instead.’

The magistrate’s arrival put an end to a conversation that Louis had found unsettling. The frankness of the words pronounced by such a young girl and by Mary had shocked him. Girls were not supposed to talk about such things. He had blushed and his embarrassment had grown even more when the widow had smiled mischievously and patted his arm.   
Lizzy and Jamie gave Yannick a big smile when he entered. It was obvious that they trusted him. He would speak to them with the magistrate while Meredith and Robert spoke to the older boy. Yannick had warned Meredith that he had not got one word out of the boy who was disturbed and still frightened. Meredith, with his painful history might be able to reach him. Robert it was decided would stay in the background and take notes of what was said by the child.  
The other three girls would be interrogated together later.  
The magistrate, Yannick, Robert and Meredith found themselves around the table for a drink after their interviews with the children. They found that they needed a respite before continuing. All four had been deeply touched by the horrendous stories they’d heard. As Yannick had foreseen, Lizzy and Jamie spoke to him in confidence.   
Lizzy had spoken first, she had been at the ‘house’ since she’d turned six, she said. She was now eight. She said she had about one client a night, most of them regulars. She described innocently in crude words what they did to her. The magistrate who had been sitting at the back of the room and facing Yannick looked increasingly paler as she went on talking. Yannick understood why, to hear such filthy words spoken in such a normal and innocent tone by so young a child was unbearably hard to listen to and he thought that it was even harder for the magistrate who had to write them down.  
Jamie just turned seven. Lizzy had told Yannick in the bedroom that he was new to the house. The boy was nowhere as talkative as Lizzy had been. After a great deal of reassuring kind words, Yannick managed to have him tell his story. He had been taken from a workhouse by a man who sometimes called looking for young boys and bring them to a house to train as apprentice groom he’d said. The tears started to fall abundantly on the little boy’s face when he described how, after a few days of being well cared for with good food and frequent baths he had been ‘prepared’ for the next step of his so-called training. He remembered the pain, the shame, his struggle and his crying, then the threats and the beating on the sole of his feet, so hard that he could not walk for hours. They had given him wine too, lots of it, sweetened with honey to get him to drink it.   
His first client had been only a week ago, he said. He’d had four more since, one a night. He was always given wine to drink before he was sent to a bedroom then after, when the man had left, one of the maids gave him a hip bath and apply some balm to sooth his soreness. He recalled his crying and the woman telling him off; he was lucky, she’d say, if he was not compliant, they’d throw him out to a life far worse out in the streets where he would have a take several men each night.   
‘That’s how they get them to obey,’ said the magistrate sadly, ‘by fear of what would happen to them outside the brothel.’

Meredith had also managed to get Alan to talk to him. Alan looked as he was about eleven or twelve, he had clamped up stubbornly at first and then told Meredith to leave him alone, a pampered young gentleman could not understand he said. Meredith smiled gently; it was a clue he could not ignore even if it cost him a great deal:  
‘I was six when I was raped. The man was a pirate. I had been kidnapped after a raid and taken away from my mother. He used me time and time again, I couldn’t walk it hurt so bad, I still wake up at night and remember the pain and the fear, so please don’t tell me that I don’t understand.’  
The boy watched Meredith and saw in his eyes that he was not lying. He asked:  
‘How did you get out?’  
‘The island was attacked by the navy and I was rescued. The man who got you out of the house adopted me.’  
‘Did you ever find your mother?’  
‘No, but I found my grandfather, or rather he found me. I know you’re worried about your future; I cannot promise you that it will be easy, but I know that my father won’t let any of you down. He will provide you with education and apprenticeship to a decent job, you must trust him and the law and tell us all you can, please.’  
Alan was silent for one or two minutes then he spoke. Robert wrote his tale down for the magistrate. Alan was twelve, it was his fifth year working in the brothel. Meredith’s heart bled for the boy; lonely and hopeless, he had built himself a hard shell to be able to survive, letting no-one come near, trusting no-one. He had little time for Jamie, he said, snivelling all the time. He did not think the child would survive very long, others had not. He carried on coldly, naming several boys, two had killed themselves and three had been ‘disposed’ off, he said, unsuitable. Meredith shivered, wondering what Alan would be prepared to do to survive…  
After hearing Meredith and Robert’s report, Yannick regretted deeply that he’d involved the young man in these interviews. Meredith had wanted to do it but that did not mean that it had been right.   
‘I am sorry Meredith; you should not have had to hear this.’  
‘Don’t be, I wanted to help, and I am sure I did. I am not a child any longer you know. It’s important for me to think that I can make a difference.’  
The magistrate spoke: ‘He is right, sir, I don’t think Alan would have spoken to anyone else,’ he turned to Meredith, ‘have you considered a career in the Law, young man? I think you truly care enough to make a difference on a bigger scale.’  
Meredith blushed at the compliment: ‘I have not made up my mind yet regarding what I want to do. It’s becoming a joke really.’  
‘Take your time. You could study Law, or you could even envisage entering politics later and make changes to the law itself to help the weakest.’  
This time Yannick laughed. ‘Ah, Paul tried to get me into politics, and I told him I couldn’t, now you in turn are trying to get my son instead.’  
The magistrate smiled, ‘I have been concerned for quite a few years about the plight of young children in this country. I have prosecuted a number of rapists but unfortunately, they get away with their crimes far too easily. I do believe that the law should be changed, only I don’t think I can carry it out.’  
Yannick employed a more serious tone: ‘Do you think that you will be able to get convictions following the children’s testimonies?’  
‘Yes, I am pretty sure of it. There are still the older girls to be interviewed of course but I don’t expect their testimonies to be much different. Unfortunately, though we only caught the staff running the brothel and I don’t know if they even know the name of the true owner.’  
‘You have no suspicions?’  
‘I heard many contradictory things about his or their identities, so no, I’m afraid I can’t say I have. I do not listen to rumours because it’s all too easy to dirty a good man’s name for the wrong reasons.’  
Yannick could not possibly disagree with that statement, he noticed Robert’s quiet nod of approval at the magistrate’s words too. They had to get back to their interviewing of the girls. Meredith and Yannick did not participate this time and the three girls were interviewed together. They were of an age and had roughly the same experience. They described their lives without too much prompting. The eldest girl, Marion, seemed to have mellowed after her talk with Mary and the widow this morning. What the magistrate did not know was that after their breakfast the three girls had a heated argument in their bedroom and the youngest, Jane, had sharply reminded Marion that their employers had actually locked them up in a room to be burnt alive to shut them up.

Yannick returned to the house on Grosvenor square with Louis and Meredith. Mary chose to stay at Mrs Owen’s; she was going to cook for the children and be there if they needed her. Louis had managed to sleep on a bench near the front door at the house while the coachman had slept by the back door.   
After the interviews the magistrate had made it clear to the six children that they were going to get help if they stayed where they were housed: they couldn’t afford to run after them if they chose to leave, but if they did, they were on their own, and would not be welcomed back. He had doubts regarding Alan and Marion, the others would stay he was sure of it.  
Meredith settled in the carriage, his eyes far away as he watched the houses and people walking about their business. He thought about the magistrate’s words. He’d have to talk seriously to Louis who had read law at Oxford. At the moment, Louis was conversing with Yannick.  
‘Ian, I reckon that you are going to lose Mary. She is very good with the girls, she cares.’  
Yannick shrugged, ‘I won’t lose her totally, I mean, she’ll still be in my employment only in a different capacity. She is clever enough to be left in charge of this operation. I shall have to talk to Mrs. Owen, see how long she’ll be willing to keep the children at her house until I find a place to set them up and educate them.’  
‘What do you want to teach them?’  
‘Well to read, write and count for a start. Then, unless they have other better ideas about their future, they could be trained to become maids or footmen. Laure is frequently mentioning that it’s not so easy to find good well-trained staff. They would always have a job that way, and even if Marion does not wear pretty dresses and perfumes at least she would live and work in a clean and warm environment, that might be enough for her.’  
Louis nodded. ‘You should talk with the widow about this idea, I think she might be interested in helping out. And she has the space. I had the feeling that she was rather bored with her life.’  
Yannick had already noticed how Louis had an acute insight of people, how he guessed what they did not say aloud. It was a remarkable gift, he thought. He would do well to listen to his younger brother and heed his advice.  
He was pleased to be back at his sister’s home at last. Laure had had a cold luncheon set up for them. It was good to see Nick too, he had not spent any time at all with his young son recently. Nick had looked at his bandaged hands with a frown, he had wanted to see what was underneath the bandage and when told that his father had hurt himself he had insisted even more, saying that he wanted to ‘kiss the hurt better’. The palms were hurting now, Yannick admitted that much to his sister who immediately sent out for a physician.   
‘No fencing for a while,’ said Alex, ‘it’s a shame, I should have made myself more available when you first arrived.’  
Yannick grinned in answer. He informed Alex and Laure of the latest developments and of their ideas for schooling the children. Laure was enthusiastic, she had taken to Mrs. Owen immediately and agreed with Louis that she was probably going to partake in the project. She offered to go back to the safe house later this afternoon and talk to the widow herself, they all agreed that it would be a good idea, the two women had sympathized the previous evening while waiting for the children to arrive.   
The physician arrived and examined Yannick’s hands. He did not explain how he had got them into that state, just that a rope had caused it. The inside skin of his fingers nearest to the palm was still very red but no worries there. His knuckles and joints were healing too. The physician remarked with a touch of irony that he had never seen a rope cause this kind of wound on knuckles before. On the other hand, he had seen plenty similar ones on boxers… The palms concerned him more. The skin was broken, and strips of skin were torn. The physician cut these carefully out and told Yannick that he had to be careful and avoid infection. He approved of the honey and applied more. He bandaged the palms again and recommended a change of bandage every day. Keep them dry and clean he said. Yannick mentioned the pain in his shoulders and neck, he had seen in a mirror that he was black and blue where he had held the rope. He was in far more pain than he wanted to admit. The physician massaged arnica unguent on the area and advised Yannick to get his valet to do it twice a day. He also advised rest. He would call again in another day.

After the physician’s departed from the house Laure declared that now Yannick was on holiday and should do nothing. He was not unhappy at the prospect. No plan had been made for parties or visits until the 31st where they were invited to dinner at Anna’s house. It was to be a private dinner with only the family there. On the 2nd, Charley was to see her mother. She had discussed it with Meredith, and he was going to accompany her which saved Yannick from a trip he had been loathed to make. He had toyed with the idea of sending her alone in the carriage and letting the coachman wait until Charley was ready to leave the house but had not liked the fact that she would have presented herself alone at the door. It was totally inappropriate and would have got tongues wagging, something he was anxious to avoid.  
As it happened, apart from Laure who went to talk with Mrs Owen about her brother’s ideas for the children’s future, the other family members spent a peaceful afternoon. Louis was catching up on his reading. The four cousins played different games of cards or boards, Nick practiced his letters with his father then went on to play with his building blocks, his all-time favourite, while Yannick and Alex conversed about the ship they had bought; Alex had spent hours at the dockyards recently and reported on the advance on the ongoing refitting. Their conversation drifted to other naval interests; Alex had read the book on the frigate Medusa’s terrible wreck that Yannick had lent him. The tale of the tragic survivors’ horrendous ordeal on the overcrowded raft written by Jean-Baptiste Savigny and Alexandre Corréard had moved everyone and Yannick had bought the book this year, written only one year after the event by two of the survivors. He had been disgusted by the fact that French newspapers had not published the outcome of the incompetent captain’s trial. At least he had been found guilty at the end, although his prison sentence had been far too lenient in Yannick’s opinion.   
Later, Yannick excused himself and went to his bedroom wanting to write a long overdue letter to Ethan. He had not been writing in his diary during the last few days and had a lot to write, unfortunately the pain in his fingers made the exercise painful and he gave up after just a few lines. Besides he had already decided to minimize greatly the risks he took at the brothel to save the children.   
He was so missing Ethan. He had received a letter from him the previous day, Ethan missed him also. He was kept busy at Porthdowns with the winter bringing its load of ailments in the youngest and the eldest people of the village. He also reported an accident that had occurred at the copper mine where several miners had been wounded when a tunnel collapsed. He reassured Yannick telling him that no death was deplored and that the wounded were making good recovery. What he did not tell him though was that he had put his own life in danger going down the mine shaft to help the wounded underground. Mrs. Carne had sent her regards and reported that all was well at the manor. Yannick found himself, not for the first time, counting the days when he’d return home.

30th December 1818

Yannick, Louis and Laure made their way to Mrs. Owen’s house to talk to her and see how the children were faring. Mrs. Owen had agreed to participate in the project of trying to get the children educated to offer them a better future. She had asked though that their previous ‘employment’ be undisclosed to her current tenants: she did not want to shock her two ladies or give indecent ideas to the three gentlemen. Yannick agreed, they would talk to Mary, the young maid and the children although he had doubts that this ‘secret’ could be kept for very long.   
Laure and Yannick also agreed that if one or more the children did present a problem they could not handle, they would interfere and make other arrangements immediately. Mrs. Owen was reassured by this. Next they discussed finances; Yannick agreed to pay for alterations to be made at the house to make it suitable for its new use. Mrs. Owen, who was ready to give up her largest reception room which would become a school room would see her own rooms improved and redecorated as she wished. The two bedrooms on the first floor destined to tenants would now be allocated to Mary and the maid. Laure wished to contribute so she would continue to pay for her maid’s wage while Yannick took care of Mary’s.   
Mrs. Owen had been told by Anne-Laure that her brother would see that their work was well rewarded, and she was glad to see that it was true. She did not have to bargain with him, she had produced a list of all the requirements and of their costs and found him agreeing without difficulties, he congratulated her for her work and gave her immediately a bank draft covering the whole sum. They set up the terms of the regular payments to be made through his London solicitor and shook hands on it.   
Yannick had not met the lady before, she reminded him both of Mrs. Harvey and Mrs. Carne. These three women were made of the same stock: they had had to struggle to make a living without or with very little help from others. If anything, their men folks had proved to be a hindrance rather than a help. As he thought about it, he realised that his aunt Henrietta had been such a courageous and independent woman too. He smiled thinking that Charley would no doubt also turn out likewise, she was already showing signs that she would lead her life as she wished and not be dictated by conventions. It was going to have its draw back though: independent educated women were frown upon by good society. At least, on the positive side, she will have both fortune and title allowing her to choose her husband and not be forced into marriage for financial reasons. He just hoped that the education he was giving her help her make the right choice and not fall prey to fortune hunters.  
In the carriage he had questioned Louis regarding his apparent lack of interest in going home: was it just that he wanted to spend time with Yannick and his children? Louis admitted that there was more to it than that.   
‘The truth is that I feel that I am in the way at the moment. Frankly,’ he huffed, ‘Mama and Miss Leary embarrass me at times.’  
Laure opened her mouth in surprise:  
‘What ever do you mean Louis?’  
Yannick laughed. Louis blushed bright red.  
‘Laurie! Really! Do I have to spell it out? They are in love!’  
Laure closed her eyes, then let out a very big sigh, ‘I don’t know where I’ve been living all these years before I met you again, Yannick. I never realised that these kinds of same sex relationships were so common after all. Does it upset you very much Louis?’  
‘I am getting used to it. I like Miss Leary, it’s just their attitude…! They giggle like fifteen years old girls and the way they look at each other is something else. So, I rather be at your house, if you don’t mind.’  
‘Not at all. In fact, you are very valuable indeed, what with Yannick spending most of his time out looking after any child he finds while abandoning his own. I don’t know what they’d become if you were not here to entertain them.’  
Her tone was light, and she was smiling as she spoke but it did not stop Yannick thinking that there was truth in her words. He took her hand and squeezed it:  
‘I am sorry. I shall make an effort, I promise. I did not plan it all, I mean, the rescue and the consequences…’  
She laughed, this time: ‘Stop it, silly, I love having Nick for myself, and Meredith and Charley love every second of their freedom in London.’  
He smiled sheepishly at her, ‘I love you.’

They called at the church on their way back to the house. Anne-Laure wanted to keep Paul aware of the developments at the house because he had introduced her to Mrs. Owen when she had first started to involve herself in the charity and she did not want him to feel that she had used him. She was surprised and disappointed by his negative reaction; he was astonished to find that six children had been rescued from a brothel and that her ladyship had asked Mrs. Owen to keep them at her house. Furthermore, he did not think that these children would eventually become decent adults, he said, they had led a far too sinful life to change now. He was surprised that Mrs. Owen had agreed to keep them at her house, they could only discredit her if she kept them there, he said. He even told Anne-Laure that he regretted introducing her to the lady in the past:  
‘She will be ruined in the eyes of good society and of the parish,’ he exclaimed, ‘keeping prostitutes in her own house!’  
Laure looked on severely: ‘You are mistaken, it’s not what she will be doing; she will be providing a home to mistreated children and if no one tells how those children were used, then none will be the wiser.’ Laure’s tone had taken on a strong warning and Paul did not comment further, recalling who he was speaking to. She said her goodbyes and left abruptly.  
Yannick and Louis had remained in the carriage, not wanting to overcrowd Paul who was busy with parishioners at this time of the day, Laure was going to invite him to dinner that night, so they thought that they’d see him then. Her face was dark with anger when she joined them. She had ordered the coachman sharply to hurry home, before climbing in which had surprised the two men, as she rarely spoke angrily at any servant. It took her a few minutes to regain her composure and explain.   
‘Of course, I did not invite him to dinner. In fact, I think I will not bother with him ever again.’  
Yannick frowned; the words did not tally with the young man’s attitude at “The Sanctuary”. He was sure that Paul cared sincerely for these children. He resolved to speak with him privately, without telling Laure. He knew from his own experience that her sister was not a woman who forgave easily. Yannick wondered if Paul’s reaction was due to resentment because he had not been told of the rescue mission beforehand or asked for his help.

31st December 1818

The last day of the year passed quietly and the evening was pleasant. There were games and songs and dances again in Anna’s large reception room. Her house was big and new, richly decorated with fashionable furniture, carpets and curtains. It was too lavish and ostentatious for Yannick’s simple taste, but he was sure that his father must have felt comfortable there.   
It was easy to see why Louis had felt uncomfortable between his mother and Abigail Leary. They two women never left each other’s side, murmuring to each other frequently, sharing private jokes, touching every time they could. Yannick noticed that the four youngsters looked at them in wonder sometimes, he braced himself with the thought that questions would be asked as soon as they left the house later that night.  
He had approached Abigail again regarding Charley’s schooling. He had put the option of boarding to the girl one afternoon and had explained to her the opportunities that this could give her. Contrarily to his belief, Charley had not dismissed the idea immediately, she would think about it, she had said. She would no doubt talk to Meredith also. Finally, Night raid 28th to 29th December  
He had not known what to expect. He had not thought that he was going to have to make a choice. Choose between these six children which one he could save from evil tonight.  
He had gone early to the brothel and his expensive clothes and arrogant air had gained him immediate attention from the hostess. He had been told the price for the services and had opened his purse to let her see his gold. She had taken him to a small sitting room and had offered to get him a drink while the girls were being presented to him. He accepted the drink and waited to see the parade. The girls presented were pretty, although heavily made-up with see-through dresses and false smiles. The youngest was probably in her late teens, not underaged, though. He sent them back and begged the madam to approach. He whispered in her ear that they were much too old for his taste and that he was surprised that males were not on offer; he had heard from a friend that such particular services could be obtained here. When madam asked the friend’s name, Yannick gave her the name of the dead provider from the slums.  
She sent the girls back. She then informed Yannick that the price was ten times higher for what he was asking for. He would gladly pay if the goods were worth it, he said.  
Six children were sent down. There were two boys and four girls. The ages ranged between six or seven and eleven or twelve. They were dressed simply in white, not made up at all, looking as innocent and virginal as possible considering the place they were in. All six had long hair falling freely onto their shoulders. He had not expected so many. He could not possibly take all six to a bedroom, it would be suspicious and that meant that maybe some other men were going to use the ones he had discarded before the constables could raid the brothel. He felt dreadful but managed to keep up his aloof attitude as he thought about his dilemma. He told the hostess negligently that he found it difficult to make up his mind so that he would take the two youngest up and pay for the whole night.  
The woman looked delighted at his words; he could see her thinking that the evening business was starting most auspiciously.  
Yannick opened his purse and counted the gold to her, making sure that she saw that he had plenty more left in there. Then he paid for a bottle of wine and three glasses to be brought to the room as was expected and stood up.  
Upon the hostess’s gesture, the youngest, one boy and one girl made their way up the stairs.  
Once the door was shut the two children stood still in front of him and he had enough experience to see the fear in their eyes although they did not move or cry. He wanted to hug them like he hugged Nick when he was upset but he knew that this was definitely not the right thing to do.  
So instead, he told them gently that he was not going to touch them or ask them to undress for him. They could sit on the bed if they wished and he promised to go nowhere near. He sat in the armchair and waited for the wine to be brought up. The children did as they were told and when Yannick opened the door to the servant bringing the order, she saw them on the bed. Yannick had taken his coat and cravat off and he gestured for her to put the tray on the table.   
As soon as she was gone, he locked the door and dressed himself fully again. He sat back into the armchair and asked them their names and ages. Lizzy spoke first, she was just eight, she said, then she added that Jamie was only seven and that he was new. Jamie’s eyes were bright with the tears he was desperately trying to hold back. He looked younger than seven, frail and pale. Yannick repeated his previous words: they were safe with him; he was not going to touch them. Lizzy asked innocently if he wished them to touch him instead. He recoiled in shock then said no, he wanted nothing like that from them. Unexpectedly Lizzy started to cry. If he was displeased with them the Madam was going to beat them up.  
‘But I am not displeased. Not at all. I came because I wanted to tell you stories. Would you like to hear stories? My children like them.’  
They watched him suspiciously, they did not believe him, he thought. Still, they stayed on the bed and waited patiently for his next move. He smiled again than started with the story Charley had liked best when she was little, he got their attention. As he went on talking, he saw them starting to relax and get engrossed in his words. He lost track of time. He was brought back to reality when he heard rapid knocks on the door and a very anxious voice asking him to leave the room in the shortest time possible.  
That was it. Robert and the constables must have barged their way inside the brothel. He went to the door and listened. By now angry shouts could be heard from downstairs as well as the sound of running in the corridors and the stairs. He waited another five minutes before opening the door. A man appeared and told him to go downstairs and leave the children to him. He was not to worry, he said. Behind him, looking frightened, were the four other children he had been presented earlier. The man ordered Lizzy and Jamie out, they were to follow the others. Men and girls were hurrying past them on their way down to the ground floor from where louder angry and offended voices could be heard. Obviously, some men were very cross to have their evening entertainment disrupted so rudely by the constables.   
Yannick hesitated. He had planned to keep the children with him, but he was not sure that the other four would accept to enter his room. Besides, Lizzy and Jamie had obeyed the man immediately. They were clearly afraid of him. Yannick left the room too and followed, seemingly making for the stairs, while looking ahead to see where the children were taken. Maybe there were back stairs and door by which they could be taken out. The man did not go down, he made for the next flight of stairs going up, instead. No way out then.   
More men and girls were rushing down now from the upper floor, jostling him in their rush to get downstairs as quickly as they could. He hurried up the stairs instead of following them down, he did not want to lose sight of the children. By the time he reached the top floor, no-one was coming down any longer. He just got to the landing in time to see the man lock the last door at the end of the corridor before entering the room closest to it. Yannick walked silently toward the doors. Most were opened, their occupants having left precipitately. He heard breaking noises from the room the man had entered and when he heard that the door was opening again, he managed to slip in another room next to it just in time to remain unseen.   
Yannick had left his door slightly ajar. The man stood outside in the corridor for a while, in front of the open door. A strong smell of burning reached Yannick. He understood. What better way to get the constables out and the now undesirable children disappear than with a good fire?   
Revolted, he stormed out. The man, in surprise, dropped the lighted lamp and the clothes he was holding onto the floor. Yannick punched him hard and the man’s head hit the opposite wall. Yannick hit him again and again, his suppressed anger now getting the better of him. He stopped when the man fell down after losing consciousness. He stamped out most of the flames from the clothes that started to burn on the floor but realised that the flames had by now engulfed the whole bedroom and were going to spread to the corridor anyway.   
He knew he could not stop the fire in the room. He closed the door to gain a little time, stamped out the remaining flames from the corridor and moved to get the children out. Their door was locked. It was a sturdy door too. He kicked it to little effect. Frustrated, he returned to the room he had been in earlier seeking something he could use to break it down. A heavy stool caught his attention. The door where the fire was lit was burning brightly, smoke filling the corridor, flames would spring out within minutes. He hit the panels relentlessly until they finally broke down. He managed to get inside. The children were huddled in panic near the window, as far away from the door as they could. A scream made him jump. The man had regained consciousness and he was on fire. He staggered up and rushed down towards the stairs but stumbled and fell before he reached them. Most of the corridor was now alight effectively cutting out their escape route.  
It would not take long for the smoke and flames to reach their room too. He could feel the heat from the wall.   
First gain time. He closed the damaged door and covered the gap at the bottom with bedsheets against smoke. He pushed a wardrobe against it to halt the fire from coming inside, then he went to the window. Two stories high. Too high for the children to jump and furthermore they were situated at the back of the building and no-one was down on the ground to hear them shout. There was so much noise anyway that he doubted that even the alarm whistle Robert had given him would be useful.  
There were sheets on the bed. He opened the wardrobe, they were in luck, it was full of linen. This room was more a storeroom than a bedroom it seemed. He turned to the children.  
‘Listen, I know you are frightened, but you must trust me, and I will get you out. We shall make a rope and climb down by the window.’  
Lizzy’s eyes widened, ‘but it’s too high, sir!’  
‘No, don’t worry, it will be all right. Remember the story I told you about my young daughter Charley and how she climbed all the way down from a ship’s yard to the deck? She was about your age when she did this and I assure you it was just as high as this window. You can do it; I will take you down safely. I promise.’  
As he talked, he took the sheets out and started to tear them lengthwise into three strips he then plaited tightly. The eldest girl started to help him and soon they all joined in. He tied the plaids together as they went along. It was taking some time, but he hoped it would make a sturdier rope than to risk the sheets tearing while they were climbing down.   
The room was getting hotter and hotter. Thankfully the window of the room on fire next door was closed and far enough for the fire to not spread to their own. Still, he did not delude himself that they had time on their hands. Soon, smoke would be seeping underneath the wardrobe from the door and the fire would break out to their room.  
At last the braiding was finished. He checked the rope; it was long enough to reach the ground. The children helped him push the large bed to the window and Yannick tied his rope securely to its legs. It was ready. The eldest girl volunteered to go down first. Yannick did not trust the children to be able to slide down his makeshift rope, two-storey was a big drop for them, so he wrapped the end bit of his rope around the girl’s waist, told her to hold on tight to the length in front of her and let him take her down. She watched him put the rope over his shoulders and take hold of it just above her hands: ‘Come on, sit on the window ledge, be brave, I’ve got you.’ She obeyed, he saw her close her eyes as he started to lower her down slowly, bracing himself against the wall near the window, letting his shoulders take most of her weight.   
Once she was on the ground, she quickly untied the knot he’d made, and he retrieved his rope for the next child. He repeated the operation with the following three older children; he had asked them to wait for him in the shadows in case some of the men from the brothel came to snatch them back or worse. He was pleased to see that they obeyed him.   
He sensed that it was going to be more difficult for the two younger children. Lizzy told him that she did not believe that she was as brave as his Charley. She was in fact terrified, clinging to him after he’d sat her on the window ledge. He spoke to her gently, told her to close her eyes and hold the rope as tight as she could and finally, she did not struggle and at the end she reached the ground safely too. He was left with Jamie, the youngest and most terrified child. Jamie had withdrawn into a corner despite the heat coming from the wall, too frightened to go near the window.   
Another tactic was needed there. Yannick realised that he was getting very short of time too. The heat in the room was now nearly unbearable, it was filling up with smoke too, soon he would not be able to breathe, he did not have time to coax a terrified child to be lowered down on his own and then come down the rope himself after that. Both their lives were in danger. He made another length of rope working as fast as he could:  
‘You are going down with me,’ he said firmly, ‘I am going to tie you to me, you will put your arms around my neck, and I shall get us both out of here.’  
The boy did not move at first, Yannick got him out of his corner and tied the new rope first around the child’s waist before he lifted him and told him to wrap his arms around his neck before wrapping the rope tightly around the both of them: he did not trust the child to have enough strength to hold on to him without a line. The boy’s legs went around his waist, at least he got that right on his own, thought Yannick. He hid his apprehension to the child; the rope had held for the children, but he was much heavier and his hands were hurting badly by now. Still, he thought, there was no other way so, he climbed out of the window and climbed down hoping for the best; before he knew it, his feet had reached the ground and he was surrounded and hugged by six grateful children.  
They were in the back yard of the brothel. They moved as far away from the building as they could. Looking up they saw that the whole top floor was on fire and that it had started to come through windows on the floor below too. They had got out just in time. There were buildings on both sides of the yard enclosing it, but the back was a high wall with a big sturdy door. He entered a shed, found an axe and started hacking on the door.   
On the other side of it, he found a small dark back alley. He walked out and asked the children to follow him, holding hands. He was holding Jamie’s in his and the eldest child closed their line. They continued walking along the back of buildings until they reached a narrow passage leading to the street of the brothel. He insisted that they were not to run away from him. He was hoping that because they had been locked in that place for a while, they would not dare escape from him, not knowing where to go next. He insisted that they had to trust him, and they would be safe. They did not let go of their hands linked together.   
He then took a bosun’s whistle out of his pocket. Robert had given it to him to signal his presence. He had thought of using it in the room upstairs and had decided against when he had realised that help could not come from within the house. It was different now. He blew long and hard on the whistle and was rewarded by sound of running feet coming towards them.  
Alex reached them first, relief and happiness on his face.  
‘You’ve done it! Thank God, you’re safe and so are the children! We have a carriage waiting to take them to safety just in the next street.’ He said.  
He led the way. Five minutes later, they got to the carriage where Mary was waiting. They climbed in, Yannick went with them, Alex was going to give the word to Robert and the magistrate about the success of their adventure.  
The carriage rattled away in the dark streets to the house of the widow where they were expected. As soon as the carriage stopped, Laure, her maid and Louis appeared at the door to welcome and help them. The children were quickly brought inside the house. They were first taken to the large kitchen downstairs and offered food and drink if they wished. Yannick had not managed to get them to speak in the carriage. He had explained that they would not go back and work in a brothel again. He would provide accommodation for them and apprenticeship of a proper job. They did not comment. Lizzy and Jamie looked about to fall asleep, the four others looked upon him with suspicion in their eyes and even resentment from the eldest girl.  
It hurt him more that he let on. Mary distracted him when she asked if she could care for his hands. He looked at them, his palms and fingers were an angry red colour with the skin broken in places because of the rope chaffing. His knuckles were bruised and bleeding from hitting the man. He let her care for him. She cleaned his hands, coated the wounds with honey then wrapped them in clean bandages. He watched his hands totally swathed in white and declared himself useless for anything more tonight, including undressing. Laure reminded him that he had a valet whose function was precisely to undress his master. It was not undressing that bothered him but rather performing other more private bodily functions; he laughed at the thought of John’s face if he told him to help with these.   
After their collation, the children were taken to their rooms. The rescuers decided to put Lizzy and Jamie together in one room, the three older girls in another and the boy alone in yet another. The rooms were warm, and the beds were clean and soft. Mary and the maid had got together a collection of new, crisp, fresh-smelling nightshirts they distributed to them. The children lost no time in picking the right sized-ones and were off to bed straight away.  
Mary and the maid stayed on while Yannick and Laure returned to her house. On the way, he described how he had got the children out. He was tired all of a sudden now that the danger had passed and the operation a success. His shoulders ached dreadfully too. He realised that it had been a close call at the end. Laure hugged him, told him how proud she felt.  
Alex had returned at the house just before them. Robert had taken charge of the brothel’s staff and marched them to prison despite their vehement protests: brothels were not illegal they said. No, unless children were abused, he replied. Yannick would lead the magistrate to the safe house next morning so that he could speak to the children, he was also required to write down an account of the night events, not now though, all he wanted was his bed. His hands, shoulders, neck and upper back painful, he welcomed John’s help with undressing but not with the chamber pot: his pride got the better of him there. He sometimes thought of the time when Ethan and Loïk had helped him pee after he’d had drunk so much alcohol that he had put his life in danger. He had been mostly unconscious then and when he had found out he had been mortified.   
29th of December  
The next morning, breakfast was a noisy affair. The four cousins asked why Louis was not with them and how had Yannick got his hands hurt. The bandages had been changed this morning to lighter ones, leaving his fingers free this time, but Nicky had looked frightened and Yannick had had a difficult job reassuring the young child. The adults could not avoid answering the questions, they related the night events, calling the brothel a ‘pleasure house for adults’, which brought a giggle out of Max and Meredith. Their aim had been to save ill-treated children, they said. Out of the four, Meredith gave his father a look which told him that he knew exactly what kind of ill-treatment these children had been subjected to.   
As Yannick was about to leave the house, Meredith joined him in the hall and said he wanted to accompany him and help.   
‘I know what they went through,’ he said, ‘I am sure I can help them.’  
Yannick hesitated before he agreed, worried that Meredith might be too disturbed by the stories he was going to hear. Meredith understood his father’s concern, he spoke to him sensibly about his own need to help these unfortunate children too if he could; Yannick relented, furthermore, with his hands in the state they were, writing was impossible, and Meredith’s presence would be useful.   
At the magistrate’s court, Yannick dictated his statement to a clerk. Meredith made a copy at the same time for his father. Sir William assured him that his statement would not be read in the trial; it concerned the operation and he wanted to avoid the public, and the other brothel owners know that they had sent someone in to check if children were used or not. He did not want the other establishments to grow suspicious and prevent him using the same trick again in the future. None of the clients had been held after the night raid, none had been caught with a child.   
The magistrate knew that the staff at the brothel were not concerned by their arrest, persuaded that the children had died and that the client who had asked for a child had managed to escape. He interrogated them with Yannick listening in from an adjacent room regarding the presence of children on the premises; they did not deny this and insisted that the children were apprentices to be maids or doorkeepers. They swore that none were worked as prostitutes. The Madam even wiped a tear, she was so sorry that they had died so awfully in their room at the top of the house; and no-one knew how the fire had started. The magistrate nodded thoughtfully and said with a smile:  
‘Then you will be happy to know that all six children are safe and sound.’  
The woman froze. She glanced at the others sat by her side with panic in her eyes.  
‘Only one man died in our operation and we believe that he had started the fire on purpose,’ he added, ‘he was found at the top of the stairs on the top floor. That was where the children were kept. They were locked in a room furthest away from the escape route and the fire was started in the room next to theirs. It was so fierce and sudden that we think it was started deliberately. What do you have to say to that?’  
Not one of them spoke. Yannick was listening from next door, no doubt they were wondering how much the magistrate knew and how he had found out. There were suspicion in their eyes as they looked at each other: maybe one of them had spoken in exchange for leniency. Let them worry, he thought, and talk to try and save themselves. Hopefully, Sir William would manage to get them all convicted for their crimes.  
After the magistrate finished his interrogation, the accused were taken back to jail while he joined Yannick and Meredith to go to the house and talk to the children. Robert was also coming with them. At the house, Louis reassured them that the night had been quiet, the children had slept well and had enjoyed a good breakfast. Louis, Mary and the maid had eaten with them and the widow had also sat down at the table. The suspicion that Mary had seen in the eyes of the older children the previous night had mostly disappeared. Only the eldest girl and boy kept an unhappy, resentful look on their faces.  
The widow had asked the girl why she was unhappy: she was safe, fed and warm, what else did she need? The girl admitted that it was the case and after hesitation she said she would have preferred to stay at the brothel. At the moment, she had one or two customers every night, regulars, she said, and she was not paid for her work but Madam had promised her that in only two or three years she would be old enough to join the regular girls, she would get paid according to the clients she attracted, she would wear pretty dresses and expensive perfumes, could get her hair combed in the latest fashion, she said, she would be given good food and nice wines to drink while she entertained the gentlemen. The gentlemen who bedded her were not so bad she said, she had grown to enjoy some of them and she’s rather live this way than to toil in factories for twelve or fourteen hours a day to earn just a few pennies, not even enough to eat properly.  
Mary shook her head despairingly, ‘but what about the many men you’d have to service every night? What about violent men, what about the diseases you’d catch, the abortions you’d have? And when your looks would no longer catch the eyes of the customers how long before they throw you out onto the streets do you think?’  
The girl shrugged. ‘What do you know about that? You’re a maid.’  
‘I am yes. But for two years I worked in a tavern by the river and I’ve seen women old before their time who had chosen the life you describe. The ‘good time’ did not last long at all, the wine they drank spoiled their looks and muddled their brains. When they were thrown out their only way of earning a few pence was to service men in street corners. I have seen plenty who had dreamt of catching the eyes of a client hoping to be set up as a mistress in a nice place but finished dead in the gutter instead.’  
The magistrate’s arrival put an end to a conversation that Louis had found unsettling. The frankness of the words pronounced by such a young girl and by Mary had shocked him. Girls were not supposed to talk about such things. He had blushed and his embarrassment had grown even more when the widow had smiled mischievously and patted his arm.   
Lizzy and Jamie gave Yannick a big smile when he entered. It was obvious that they trusted him. He would speak to them with the magistrate while Meredith and Robert spoke to the older boy. Yannick had warned Meredith that he had not got one word out of the boy who was disturbed and still frightened. Meredith, with his painful history might be able to reach him. Robert it was decided would stay in the background and take notes of what was said by the child.  
The other three girls would be interrogated together later.  
The magistrate, Yannick, Robert and Meredith found themselves around the table for a drink after their interviews with the children. They found that they needed a respite before continuing. All four had been deeply touched by the horrendous stories they’d heard. As Yannick had foreseen, Lizzy and Jamie spoke to him in confidence.   
Lizzy had spoken first, she had been at the ‘house’ since she’d turned six, she said. She was now eight. She said she had about one client a night, most of them regulars. She described innocently in crude words what they did to her. The magistrate who had been sitting at the back of the room and facing Yannick looked increasingly paler as she went on talking. Yannick understood why, to hear such filthy words spoken in such a normal and innocent tone by so young a child was unbearably hard to listen to and he thought that it was even harder for the magistrate who had to write them down.  
Jamie just turned seven. Lizzy had told Yannick in the bedroom that he was new to the house. The boy was nowhere as talkative as Lizzy had been. After a great deal of reassuring kind words, Yannick managed to have him tell his story. He had been taken from a workhouse by a man who sometimes called looking for young boys and bring them to a house to train as apprentice groom he’d said. The tears started to fall abundantly on the little boy’s face when he described how, after a few days of being well cared for with good food and frequent baths he had been ‘prepared’ for the next step of his so-called training. He remembered the pain, the shame, his struggle and his crying, then the threats and the beating on the sole of his feet, so hard that he could not walk for hours. They had given him wine too, lots of it, sweetened with honey to get him to drink it.   
His first client had been only a week ago, he said. He’d had four more since, one a night. He was always given wine to drink before he was sent to a bedroom then after, when the man had left, one of the maids gave him a hip bath and apply some balm to sooth his soreness. He recalled his crying and the woman telling him off; he was lucky, she’d say, if he was not compliant, they’d throw him out to a life far worse out in the streets where he would have a take several men each night.   
‘That’s how they get them to obey,’ said the magistrate sadly, ‘by fear of what would happen to them outside the brothel.’  
Meredith had also managed to get Alan to talk to him. Alan looked as he was about eleven or twelve, he had clamped up stubbornly at first and then told Meredith to leave him alone, a pampered young gentleman could not understand he said. Meredith smiled gently; it was a clue he could not ignore even if it cost him a great deal:  
‘I was six when I was raped. The man was a pirate. I had been kidnapped after a raid and taken away from my mother. He used me time and time again, I couldn’t walk it hurt so bad, I still wake up at night and remember the pain and the fear, so please don’t tell me that I don’t understand.’  
The boy watched Meredith and saw in his eyes that he was not lying. He asked:  
‘How did you get out?’  
‘The island was attacked by the navy and I was rescued. The man who got you out of the house adopted me.’  
‘Did you ever find your mother?’  
‘No, but I found my grandfather, or rather he found me. I know you’re worried about your future; I cannot promise you that it will be easy, but I know that my father won’t let any of you down. He will provide you with education and apprenticeship to a decent job, you must trust him and the law and tell us all you can, please.’  
Alan was silent for one or two minutes then he spoke. Robert wrote his tale down for the magistrate. Alan was twelve, it was his fifth year working in the brothel. Meredith’s heart bled for the boy; lonely and hopeless, he had built himself a hard shell to be able to survive, letting no-one come near, trusting no-one. He had little time for Jamie, he said, snivelling all the time. He did not think the child would survive very long, others had not. He carried on coldly, naming several boys, two had killed themselves and three had been ‘disposed’ off, he said, unsuitable. Meredith shivered, wondering what Alan would be prepared to do to survive…  
After hearing Meredith and Robert’s report, Yannick regretted deeply that he’d involved the young man in these interviews. Meredith had wanted to do it but that did not mean that it had been right.   
‘I am sorry Meredith; you should not have had to hear this.’  
‘Don’t be, I wanted to help, and I am sure I did. I am not a child any longer you know. It’s important for me to think that I can make a difference.’  
The magistrate spoke: ‘He is right, sir, I don’t think Alan would have spoken to anyone else,’ he turned to Meredith, ‘have you considered a career in the Law, young man? I think you truly care enough to make a difference on a bigger scale.’  
Meredith blushed at the compliment: ‘I have not made up my mind yet regarding what I want to do. It’s becoming a joke really.’  
‘Take your time. You could study Law, or you could even envisage entering politics later and make changes to the law itself to help the weakest.’  
This time Yannick laughed. ‘Ah, Paul tried to get me into politics, and I told him I couldn’t, now you in turn are trying to get my son instead.’  
The magistrate smiled, ‘I have been concerned for quite a few years about the plight of young children in this country. I have prosecuted a number of rapists but unfortunately, they get away with their crimes far too easily. I do believe that the law should be changed, only I don’t think I can carry it out.’  
Yannick employed a more serious tone: ‘Do you think that you will be able to get convictions following the children’s testimonies?’  
‘Yes, I am pretty sure of it. There are still the older girls to be interviewed of course but I don’t expect their testimonies to be much different. Unfortunately, though we only caught the staff running the brothel and I don’t know if they even know the name of the true owner.’  
‘You have no suspicions?’  
‘I heard many contradictory things about his or their identities, so no, I’m afraid I can’t say I have. I do not listen to rumours because it’s all too easy to dirty a good man’s name for the wrong reasons.’  
Yannick could not possibly disagree with that statement, he noticed Robert’s quiet nod of approval at the magistrate’s words too. They had to get back to their interviewing of the girls. Meredith and Yannick did not participate this time and the three girls were interviewed together. They were of an age and had roughly the same experience. They described their lives without too much prompting. The eldest girl, Marion, seemed to have mellowed after her talk with Mary and the widow this morning. What the magistrate did not know was that after their breakfast the three girls had a heated argument in their bedroom and the youngest, Jane, had sharply reminded Marion that their employers had actually locked them up in a room to be burnt alive to shut them up.  
Yannick returned to the house on Grosvenor square with Louis and Meredith. Mary chose to stay at Mrs Owen’s; she was going to cook for the children and be there if they needed her. Louis had managed to sleep on a bench near the front door at the house while the coachman had slept by the back door.   
After the interviews the magistrate had made it clear to the six children that they were going to get help if they stayed where they were housed: they couldn’t afford to run after them if they chose to leave, but if they did, they were on their own, and would not be welcomed back. He had doubts regarding Alan and Marion, the others would stay he was sure of it.  
Meredith settled in the carriage, his eyes far away as he watched the houses and people walking about their business. He thought about the magistrate’s words. He’d have to talk seriously to Louis who had read law at Oxford. At the moment, Louis was conversing with Yannick.  
‘Ian, I reckon that you are going to lose Mary. She is very good with the girls, she cares.’  
Yannick shrugged, ‘I won’t lose her totally, I mean, she’ll still be in my employment only in a different capacity. She is clever enough to be left in charge of this operation. I shall have to talk to Mrs. Owen, see how long she’ll be willing to keep the children at her house until I find a place to set them up and educate them.’  
‘What do you want to teach them?’  
‘Well to read, write and count for a start. Then, unless they have other better ideas about their future, they could be trained to become maids or footmen. Laure is frequently mentioning that it’s not so easy to find good well-trained staff. They would always have a job that way, and even if Marion does not wear pretty dresses and perfumes at least she would live and work in a clean and warm environment, that might be enough for her.’  
Louis nodded. ‘You should talk with the widow about this idea, I think she might be interested in helping out. And she has the space. I had the feeling that she was rather bored with her life.’  
Yannick had already noticed how Louis had an acute insight of people, how he guessed what they did not say aloud. It was a remarkable gift, he thought. He would do well to listen to his younger brother and heed his advice.  
He was pleased to be back at his sister’s home at last. Laure had had a cold luncheon set up for them. It was good to see Nick too, he had not spent any time at all with his young son recently. Nick had looked at his bandaged hands with a frown, he had wanted to see what was underneath the bandage and when told that his father had hurt himself he had insisted even more, saying that he wanted to ‘kiss the hurt better’. The palms were hurting now, Yannick admitted that much to his sister who immediately sent out for a physician.   
‘No fencing for a while,’ said Alex, ‘it’s a shame, I should have made myself more available when you first arrived.’  
Yannick grinned in answer. He informed Alex and Laure of the latest developments and of their ideas for schooling the children. Laure was enthusiastic, she had taken to Mrs. Owen immediately and agreed with Louis that she was probably going to partake in the project. She offered to go back to the safe house later this afternoon and talk to the widow herself, they all agreed that it would be a good idea, the two women had sympathized the previous evening while waiting for the children to arrive.   
The physician arrived and examined Yannick’s hands. He did not explain how he had got them into that state, just that a rope had caused it. The inside skin of his fingers nearest to the palm was still very red but no worries there. His knuckles and joints were healing too. The physician remarked with a touch of irony that he had never seen a rope cause this kind of wound on knuckles before. On the other hand, he had seen plenty similar ones on boxers… The palms concerned him more. The skin was broken, and strips of skin were torn. The physician cut these carefully out and told Yannick that he had to be careful and avoid infection. He approved of the honey and applied more. He bandaged the palms again and recommended a change of bandage every day. Keep them dry and clean he said. Yannick mentioned the pain in his shoulders and neck, he had seen in a mirror that he was black and blue where he had held the rope. He was in far more pain than he wanted to admit. The physician massaged arnica unguent on the area and advised Yannick to get his valet to do it twice a day. He also advised rest. He would call again in another day.  
After the physician’s departed from the house Laure declared that now Yannick was on holiday and should do nothing. He was not unhappy at the prospect. No plan had been made for parties or visits until the 31st where they were invited to dinner at Anna’s house. It was to be a private dinner with only the family there. On the 2nd, Charley was to see her mother. She had discussed it with Meredith, and he was going to accompany her which saved Yannick from a trip he had been loathed to make. He had toyed with the idea of sending her alone in the carriage and letting the coachman wait until Charley was ready to leave the house but had not liked the fact that she would have presented herself alone at the door. It was totally inappropriate and would have got tongues wagging, something he was anxious to avoid.  
As it happened, apart from Laure who went to talk with Mrs Owen about her brother’s ideas for the children’s future, the other family members spent a peaceful afternoon. Louis was catching up on his reading. The four cousins played different games of cards or boards, Nick practiced his letters with his father then went on to play with his building blocks, his all-time favourite, while Yannick and Alex conversed about the ship they had bought; Alex had spent hours at the dockyards recently and reported on the advance on the ongoing refitting. Their conversation drifted to other naval interests; Alex had read the book on the frigate Medusa’s terrible wreck that Yannick had lent him. The tale of the tragic survivors’ horrendous ordeal on the overcrowded raft written by Jean-Baptiste Savigny and Alexandre Corréard had moved everyone and Yannick had bought the book this year, written only one year after the event by two of the survivors. He had been disgusted by the fact that French newspapers had not published the outcome of the incompetent captain’s trial. At least he had been found guilty at the end, although his prison sentence had been far too lenient in Yannick’s opinion.   
Later, Yannick excused himself and went to his bedroom wanting to write a long overdue letter to Ethan. He had not been writing in his diary during the last few days and had a lot to write, unfortunately the pain in his fingers made the exercise painful and he gave up after just a few lines. Besides he had already decided to minimize greatly the risks he took at the brothel to save the children.   
He was so missing Ethan. He had received a letter from him the previous day, Ethan missed him also. He was kept busy at Porthdowns with the winter bringing its load of ailments in the youngest and the eldest people of the village. He also reported an accident that had occurred at the copper mine where several miners had been wounded when a tunnel collapsed. He reassured Yannick telling him that no death was deplored and that the wounded were making good recovery. What he did not tell him though was that he had put his own life in danger going down the mine shaft to help the wounded underground. Mrs. Carne had sent her regards and reported that all was well at the manor. Yannick found himself, not for the first time, counting the days when he’d return home.

30th December 1818

Yannick, Louis and Laure made their way to Mrs. Owen’s house to talk to her and see how the children were faring. Mrs. Owen had agreed to participate in the project of trying to get the children educated to offer them a better future. She had asked though that their previous ‘employment’ be undisclosed to her current tenants: she did not want to shock her two ladies or give indecent ideas to the three gentlemen. Yannick agreed, they would talk to Mary, the young maid and the children although he had doubts that this ‘secret’ could be kept for very long.   
Laure and Yannick also agreed that if one or more the children did present a problem they could not handle, they would interfere and make other arrangements immediately. Mrs. Owen was reassured by this. Next they discussed finances; Yannick agreed to pay for alterations to be made at the house to make it suitable for its new use. Mrs. Owen, who was ready to give up her largest reception room which would become a school room would see her own rooms improved and redecorated as she wished. The two bedrooms on the first floor destined to tenants would now be allocated to Mary and the maid. Laure wished to contribute so she would continue to pay for her maid’s wage while Yannick took care of Mary’s.   
Mrs. Owen had been told by Anne-Laure that her brother would see that their work was well rewarded, and she was glad to see that it was true. She did not have to bargain with him, she had produced a list of all the requirements and of their costs and found him agreeing without difficulties, he congratulated her for her work and gave her immediately a bank draft covering the whole sum. They set up the terms of the regular payments to be made through his London solicitor and shook hands on it.   
Yannick had not met the lady before, she reminded him both of Mrs. Harvey and Mrs. Carne. These three women were made of the same stock: they had had to struggle to make a living without or with very little help from others. If anything, their men folks had proved to be a hindrance rather than a help. As he thought about it, he realised that his aunt Henrietta had been such a courageous and independent woman too. He smiled thinking that Charley would no doubt also turn out likewise, she was already showing signs that she would lead her life as she wished and not be dictated by conventions. It was going to have its draw back though: independent educated women were frown upon by good society. At least, on the positive side, she will have both fortune and title allowing her to choose her husband and not be forced into marriage for financial reasons. He just hoped that the education he was giving her help her make the right choice and not fall prey to fortune hunters.  
In the carriage he had questioned Louis regarding his apparent lack of interest in going home: was it just that he wanted to spend time with Yannick and his children? Louis admitted that there was more to it than that.   
‘The truth is that I feel that I am in the way at the moment. Frankly,’ he huffed, ‘Mama and Miss Leary embarrass me at times.’  
Laure opened her mouth in surprise:  
‘What ever do you mean Louis?’  
Yannick laughed. Louis blushed bright red.  
‘Laurie! Really! Do I have to spell it out? They are in love!’  
Laure closed her eyes, then let out a very big sigh, ‘I don’t know where I’ve been living all these years before I met you again, Yannick. I never realised that these kinds of same sex relationships were so common after all. Does it upset you very much Louis?’  
‘I am getting used to it. I like Miss Leary, it’s just their attitude…! They giggle like fifteen years old girls and the way they look at each other is something else. So, I rather be at your house, if you don’t mind.’  
‘Not at all. In fact, you are very valuable indeed, what with Yannick spending most of his time out looking after any child he finds while abandoning his own. I don’t know what they’d become if you were not here to entertain them.’  
Her tone was light, and she was smiling as she spoke but it did not stop Yannick thinking that there was truth in her words. He took her hand and squeezed it:  
‘I am sorry. I shall make an effort, I promise. I did not plan it all, I mean, the rescue and the consequences…’  
She laughed, this time: ‘Stop it, silly, I love having Nick for myself, and Meredith and Charley love every second of their freedom in London.’  
He smiled sheepishly at her, ‘I love you.’  
They called at the church on their way back to the house. Anne-Laure wanted to keep Paul aware of the developments at the house because he had introduced her to Mrs. Owen when she had first started to involve herself in the charity and she did not want him to feel that she had used him. She was surprised and disappointed by his negative reaction; he was astonished to find that six children had been rescued from a brothel and that her ladyship had asked Mrs. Owen to keep them at her house. Furthermore, he did not think that these children would eventually become decent adults, he said, they had led a far too sinful life to change now. He was surprised that Mrs. Owen had agreed to keep them at her house, they could only discredit her if she kept them there, he said. He even told Anne-Laure that he regretted introducing her to the lady in the past:  
‘She will be ruined in the eyes of good society and of the parish,’ he exclaimed, ‘keeping prostitutes in her own house!’  
Laure looked on severely: ‘You are mistaken, it’s not what she will be doing; she will be providing a home to mistreated children and if no one tells how those children were used, then none will be the wiser.’ Laure’s tone had taken on a strong warning and Paul did not comment further, recalling who he was speaking to. She said her goodbyes and left abruptly.  
Yannick and Louis had remained in the carriage, not wanting to overcrowd Paul who was busy with parishioners at this time of the day, Laure was going to invite him to dinner that night, so they thought that they’d see him then. Her face was dark with anger when she joined them. She had ordered the coachman sharply to hurry home, before climbing in which had surprised the two men, as she rarely spoke angrily at any servant. It took her a few minutes to regain her composure and explain.   
‘Of course, I did not invite him to dinner. In fact, I think I will not bother with him ever again.’  
Yannick frowned; the words did not tally with the young man’s attitude at “The Sanctuary”. He was sure that Paul cared sincerely for these children. He resolved to speak with him privately, without telling Laure. He knew from his own experience that her sister was not a woman who forgave easily. Yannick wondered if Paul’s reaction was due to resentment because he had not been told of the rescue mission beforehand or asked for his help.

31st December 1818

The last day of the year passed quietly and the evening was pleasant. There were games and songs and dances again in Anna’s large reception room. Her house was big and new, richly decorated with fashionable furniture, carpets and curtains. It was too lavish and ostentatious for Yannick’s simple taste, but he was sure that his father must have felt comfortable there.   
It was easy to see why Louis had felt uncomfortable between his mother and Abigail Leary. They two women never left each other’s side, murmuring to each other frequently, sharing private jokes, touching every time they could. Yannick noticed that the four youngsters looked at them in wonder sometimes, he braced himself with the thought that questions would be asked as soon as they left the house later that night.  
He had approached Abigail again regarding Charley’s schooling. He had put the option of boarding to the girl one afternoon and had explained to her the opportunities that this could give her. Contrarily to his belief, Charley had not dismissed the idea immediately, she would think about it, she had said. She would no doubt talk to Meredith also. Finally, Charley had told her father that she did not want to go to boarding school. If he could not find another suitable tutor for her, she promised to learn by herself reading books and asking the schoolmaster at Porthdowns or Ethan for help her with scientific studies, if her father could not help, of course.  
Deep down, it was the answer he had hoped to hear. He was not ready to see his darling daughter leave his house yet. Bad enough that she was going to spend the second day of the year with her mother…  
Abigail suggested to Yannick that he should write an advert in London newspapers. He was not returning to Cornwall until January 15th so there would be time to receive potential candidates in London before they returned home. He agreed that it was a good idea and decided to act on it next day. Before dinner, they played charades and many other games, but what the youngsters wanted most was dancing so after dinner, Anne-Laure sat down at the piano and complied with providing music for them. Max paired with Charley and Meredith with Angie and they had a wonderful time, exhausting Laure. Anna, who was not a bad player, took over, followed by Miss Leary.   
Alex was happy to sit down and watch, same as Yannick who had never been very good at learning an instrument. Alex admitted to playing the piano passably well but had no wish to perform tonight. Louis danced with Laure or his mother when they were not playing. Nick had watched the dancers with interest at first before moving to be near the piano instead. He was fascinated by Laure’s hands running on the keys and making the instrument sing. Yannick had noticed before that he showed interest when Charley practiced at home. It was time for him to start to have lessons, he thought.  
Earlier in the afternoon, Nick had been happy to learn that they were invited to go to William and Georgiana’s house later in the week where he would be able to play with their children as he had over the Christmas holidays. Alex had been quick to reassure Yannick by telling him that his mother would not be there and therefore conversation would be much more relaxed. The two men had sat down in a quiet corner by the window with a drink while the children, Laure, Anna and Miss Leary had played cards before it was time for the last dinner of the year. Louis was kept busy by Nick, and Alex was pleased to catch this opportunity to talk with Yannick, on his own for once.

Alex liked his brother-in-law, he was good for Laure, she was much happier since she had reunited with him, not that she had been an unhappy woman before, but she’d had some moments in her life when she looked sad and her eyes had been misty. It never lasted and when he had asked her what the matter was, she had always brushed it off, saying that it was old childhood memories, nothing more.   
After they had discovered who her brother had become during the war, she had changed subtly, withdrawing a little more often, and he had put it to the fact that she was struggling between her wish to see her brother again and her fear that he had become someone she could no longer love. Because she had loved him, very much, that much Alex had always known. She had told him how he’d promised to look after her, told him about the weekly letters he sent when he was away at college. Jean-Baptiste had been the person she had missed the most. Alex knew how much she had cried when they had left France to move to England, how she had begged her father to go and pick up Jean-Baptiste from college and take him with them. But her father had refused: Brest was too far away, there was no time. She had only understood his real reasons after reading her mother’s letters and Alex had seen her father abruptly tumble from the pedestal his daughter had put him on.   
Alex had been relieved to find out that Jean-Baptiste/Yannick was not the rogue described in newspapers and pamphlets and he had seen the happy transformation in his wife’s mood following her newly re-established relationship with her beloved brother.  
Alex confided to Yannick that his father had been a reliable, honest and good-natured man. After hesitation he added, ‘I don’t know how he put up with mother. It was an arranged marriage of course, but really their parents could have made an effort to find more suited partners for their children.’  
‘Just as well they did not,’ answered Yannick smiling, ‘I find that the son they brought to the world is a great fellow and I believe that my sister is besotted with him. Come to think of it your marriage is one of the few I know that is successful, my own parents was a disaster, Anna and father…well, no comment, and my own was probably the worst one.’  
Alex was pensive for a minute and he risked asking: ‘What if Julia had returned your love? What would have happened do you think? Charley would have stayed with her presumably, but would you have looked at Lady Alexis if your marriage had been successful?’  
Yannick shrugged: ‘I don’t know, I have wondered. You are not mentioning my male lovers; is it tact or discomfort?’  
‘A little of both I suspect,’ with a smile, Alex refilled his glass and Yannick held his although he knew he should not. Ethan would not be pleased if he was here. Yannick took a mouthful, Anna’s whisky was really good, before speaking again.   
‘I doubt that I would have been able to resist Hadrian, even if my marriage had been good and I’d still loved Julia. We would have been separated for seven years by then, it’s a long time to remain celibate. What I felt when I first saw Hadrian, I’ve never experienced again. I can’t explain it and by the intense way he looked at me across the room I understood immediately that he felt as I did and that we would end up in the same bed that night.’  
‘I met him, you know, I would never have guessed his inclinations. I knew he was a little reckless, that his parents wanted nothing to do with him although I never knew why. I was surprised he risked so much with you at Kediri though.’  
Yannick just smiled, ‘I know…, it was mad.’ He shrugged. ‘As I said, I don’t think I would have felt any different even if I’d still loved Julia.’  
‘Forgive the question if you deem it too personal, but what about Ethan? Do you not love him as much as you did Hadrian?’  
‘I love him differently. You rightly said that Hadrian was reckless. I am too in many ways. We both liked to taunt danger. Maybe it was because of the war, we were both fighters, our lives were always on the line, we grew used to it I suppose. Maybe we needed more to feel alive, I don’t know. All I know is that as soon as saw that he wanted me I decided to provoke him to see if he would dare make a move. I never expected that I would want more of him after that one night. I expected him to become at best a pleasant memory, not the obsession he became. And then when we met again and I found out that he felt the same about me, living together was the obvious consequence. We did not flaunt our relationship but if it had lasted longer, tongues would have wagged for sure. Now, Ethan is not in the least reckless. I fell in love with him slowly, he grew on me. I’ll be honest with you, I lay with him before I fell in love. He was just a nice distraction at first, it had been a long time since I had felt desire for anyone, and he was so attractive. He is good for me, he curbs my recklessness, clears out my dark moods. He is better for me in more ways than Hadrian was.’  
‘This recklessness you speak of does not tally with the love you have for your children and your wish to protect them. I can’t believe that you never thought what the consequences would mean to them if you got caught?’  
‘I was not as reckless as Hadrian was. In Kediri, I risked nothing. I was the highest ranked French officer; I could act as I pleased. Besides every man on board knew my taste for male lovers even though I never approached any of them. I paid for that later of course. Many strongly disliked my morals, or rather lack of, as they said, hence the articles although I believe they did not start the stories, only added to them. Anyway, the children. One could say that my worst reckless move had been to sail with Charley. I don’t recall much thinking of eventual risks at the time. I had to take her with me, she was the only bright thing in my life.’ He stopped and shook his head, remembering his hurt, ‘I don’t know if I would have had the strength to live on without Charley after Julia’s betrayal. Was its selfishness or self-preservation to take her with me? You tell me.’  
‘I don’t know, thank God, I never had to make your choices.’  
‘My turn to ask a personal question, if you don’t mind, have you ever been attracted to another man?’  
Alex laughed: ‘I can honestly say that I haven’t. But I have received proposals.’  
‘What do you mean? What are you two talking about hiding away on your own in that corner!’ Neither men had noticed Anne-Laure creeping on them silently.  
‘My darling, we’re not hiding! Just having a normal conversation, we’re quiet because we don’t want to disturb your games.’  
‘Well, which proposals did you receive?’  
‘Business ventures proposals, love. We were having a very serious conversation.’  
Laure looked at each man in turn suspiciously. She was not buying it, not at all, but she was intelligent enough to know when to let it pass. Besides Alex would probably come clean later, as he often did. She looked at their glasses and remarked drily:  
‘A bit early to start drinking whisky, isn’t it?’  
Yannick shook his head in mocking desperation: ‘Good grief, Alex! I’m so glad I am not married! Are all women like this? Jealous even though they have no cause to be, and controlling what one’s drinking?’  
Laure gave him a light tap on his head pretending to be offended. ‘You are a bad influence on my husband. Don’t you dare get him involved in one of your mad schemes.’  
‘I wouldn’t dare, you’d kill me.’  
‘Count on it, brother. In the meantime, I think you should go and rescue poor Louis who has been rebuilding the Tower of London at least three times in the last hour with your younger son!’  
Yannick grinned sheepishly and got up to relieve Louis who did look a little bit fed up seeing that his skills with building blocks never seemed to be good enough to match Nick’s expectations.  
They returned to Grosvenor square at dawn on January 1st. They had welcomed the new year together for the first time, 1819 boded well. The wine business was doing better than expected. Their second ship ‘Halcyon’ was nearly ready to sail so the business would be able to expand further. Louis and Meredith were showing definite interest in the venture. They got up very late and had a lazy day. Louis had remained at his mother’s house. 

2nd January 1819

Meredith accompanied Charley to visit her mother as planned. They were both led to a small sitting room and waited for Julia’s appearance. After fifteen minutes or so, Julia entered. Charley had started to be fidgety which did not bode well for the rest of the day.   
‘Honestly, Meredith, we were exactly on time and she makes us wait like tradesmen!’  
Julia kissed her daughter on the forehead and turned her attention to Meredith; she enquired as to who he was and after he answered, she thanked him for delivering her daughter and told him to come back before dinner. Meredith bowed and made his way to the door. He had not missed Charley’s disbelieving shake of her head and pursed lips when her mother had questioned him. He could well read her mind: it said ‘Who did you think he was! I told you all about him last time!’  
Meredith walked down the stairs of the entrance hall with a mirthful grin on his face thinking ‘Good luck, Marquesa!’

In the afternoon, Yannick took Meredith with him to visit the children at Mrs. Owen’s.   
Yannick talked to the children on his own first, while Meredith and Mary had a chat separately. Lizzy and Jamie gave him a smile, Lizzy hugged him spontaneously. The four older children were not as suspicious as they had been last time, he’d seen them. He enquired about their comfort, about how they felt at the prospect of going to school and bettering themselves. They opened up to him, they had started to make plans, to dream of a better life. They liked the house and the ladies. Marion had kept quiet. Yannick worried that she would be a problem and even maybe run away when she suddenly blurted out:  
‘You meant it. All the things you said.’  
He frowned, started by her words: ‘What do you mean exactly? Whatever it is I said, I meant it.’  
‘I thought you were setting up your own pleasure parlour. That magistrate came again with that constable, he wanted to know if we heard names while we were at the brothel. I told him what I’d believed you were, told him about the other little ones too, the ones who were taken away to perform at parties.’  
Yannick cringed. ‘Did these children ever returned?’  
‘No.’  
Alan pipped in: ‘A man came just two days before you did. He had taken children out with him before. He wanted little ones, he tried out Jamie, but did not take him out. Madam beat Jamie up again, she said he made her lose a lot of money.’  
While Alan spoke, Jamie withdrew to a corner of the room, his big eyes full of fear again. Jane went to him, she gathered him in her arms and rocked him gently. Marion huffed, ‘she thinks she’s some kind of mother to him!’  
‘If it helps them both then, there is nothing wrong with that. You’ve all had difficult times. Speak to each other, share your feelings. The magistrate and Mr. Fellowes are good men who want to help children who were mistreated like you have been. If you can remember anything at all to help them, then please tell them,’ he thought of something suddenly, ‘could you describe the man who wanted Jamie to Meredith?’  
‘I could,’ replied Alan, ‘why to Meredith?’  
‘Because he is an artist who can draw faces.’  
Alan nodded. Yannick did not lose time; he fetched Meredith and explain what he wanted from him.  
‘I’ve never done that before; not sure I’d be good at it.’  
‘Try, we’ll see. Nothing to lose is there?’  
As it happened three of the children had seen the client. Yannick left the room to go and talk to Mary, he thought that Meredith would do better if he was left on his own with the children. They crowded him as he tried to draw the man they were describing. They agreed on his hair and eyes colour: brown. Meredith was realising that describing such simple things as shape of a face or a nose was not that easy and that he was continuously rubbing off what he’d drawn and changing his pencil strokes, but he struggled on.   
Alan, Lizzy and Emmy continued with their description. Emmy turned out to be the best observant of the three. Meredith modified the drawing time and time again as they added little remarks about the shape of the man’s chin, his eyebrows, disagreed over that or the other. After one hour or so they declared that Meredith had made a good portrait of the man who had ‘tried’ Jamie and got him to be beaten up.  
Meredith had concentrated on the children’s words and on his pencil strokes, doing his best to put their description on paper. He had not thought of the overall subject. Now that the portrait was over, he looked at it and felt himself go very cold.  
‘You are sure that this is a good likeness of the man you saw?’ He asked them, ‘could you not have seen him somewhere else, before you started work at the brothel?’  
Alan shook his head. ‘No. It’s definitely him. Why not ask Jamie if he recognises him?’

Meredith took the drawing to the sofa where Jamie was sitting down with Jane still by his side. Meredith kneeled in front of the boy and said gently:   
‘Jamie, I need your help too. You remember that you are safe here, don’t you? There is nothing to worry about, I’d just like you to tell me if you have seen this man before? Can you do this for me?’  
Jamie nodded and Meredith held the portrait out to him. Jamie startled and took Jane’s hand, holding it tight, then he nodded to Meredith.   
‘Is this the man who hurt you, Jamie?’  
In a whisper the child answered, ‘yes.’  
No one had noticed that Yannick and Mary had entered the room in turn while Meredith talked to Jamie. Yannick smiled:   
‘So, you’ve finished and have done a good job then,’ he said, ‘now we have to see if someone can iden…,’ he did not finish his sentence because he saw the awful look on Meredith’s face. He held his hand out for the drawing and Meredith seemed only too glad to be rid of it.  
Mary glanced at it at the same time and gasped. She had recognised Paul Harrison at the same time than Yannick had done, and it was obvious from the look on Meredith’s face that he had come to the same conclusion.   
Yannick recovered first. He thanked the children for their help and promised to come back another day, then he took Mary to one side and asked her not to reveal anything about either the existence of the drawing or who it represented to anyone at all before he exited the room with Meredith, leaving her behind.  
They met Mrs. Owen in the hall. He excused himself for not having the time to stay any longer: he had to go and get Charley now. Mrs. Owen wished them goodbyes, thankfully she did not seem to notice the drawing that Yannick was clutching in his hand. He was not yet ready to explain to her that the clergyman who was so helpful at the charity circle of the parish was also a child rapist.  
Yannick gave instructions to his coachman. As soon as the carriage moved Meredith blurted:  
‘I can’t work it out, why did he take the risk of taking you to ‘The Sanctuary’ knowing that some people could identify him?’  
‘I don’t think they could have. I think he used his charity trips to have a look at the children and choose they ones he liked. Another man probably did the buying. Maybe he wanted to know what I intended to do. Spy on me perhaps.’  
‘‘That explains why he was so upset to find out that abused children were staying at Mrs. Owen’s house. He was angry at being kept out of the operation. I can’t believe that he’s abused Jamie only a few days ago! He must be terrified that Jamie recognises him!’  
‘He does not know which brothel they came from and as far as I know he has not been to Mrs. Owen’s house for the last few days; Damn, I should have said something to Mrs. Owen just in case.’  
‘Yes. He was a visitor at her house because of the charity, it renders his visits dangerous now, always at the risk of meeting one of the children by chance.’  
‘What are you going to do? You are not going to confront him are you?’  
‘No, Meredith, don’t worry. We are going to the Lincoln’s inn to talk to the magistrate. We shall call at Robert’s first and take him with us if he is at home.’

Robert was not at home. Yannick left him a note then they proceeded to the Lincoln’s inn. The magistrate was in his office and Robert was with him. Yannick reported what had happened earlier at Mrs. Owen’s house and he handed the drawing to him, explaining who the man was.   
The magistrate did not speak for a while, obviously concentrating. The other men did not disturb his thoughts. When he spoke though, they were taken aback by his words:  
‘How much do you trust Mary and the young maid?’  
‘Totally,’ answered Yannick, ‘well Mary anyway. I don’t know the other girl, but my sister does. Why may I ask?’  
‘We have to consider who the man’s accomplices might be and that Mrs. Owen might warn him. That it was why she agreed to house the children in the first place.’  
Meredith caught his breath in astonishment but discovered that he was lost for words.  
Yannick had closed his eyes and bitten his lower lip. He thought of the children, of his promise that they’d be safe.  
‘I think this is going too far. My sister approached her, not Harrison. Anyway, better to think the worst I suppose and act accordingly. The children have probably already told Mrs. Owen that they helped Meredith draw their abuser so if she is involved in this disgusting business then they are in danger now.’  
The magistrate agreed.   
‘Robert will go to the house now, speak with Mary, see how Mrs. Owen is. He is a good judge of character.’ He turned to Yannick, ‘I must ask you to keep away for now. Go home and wait for Robert to come and see you.’  
Yannick made an impatient gesture, ‘I want to help.’  
‘I know. And you will. But not now,’ said the magistrate firmly, his eyes burrowing into Yannick’s until he obtained an acquiescing nod from the angry man facing him.  
Meredith was the only one who noticed Robert’s worried glance towards Yannick.  
Back in the carriage Meredith put his hand on Yannick’s arm: ‘Papa, please, don’t interfere. Let them do their job, the magistrate knows what he’s doing, trust him.’  
Yannick brushed Meredith’s hand impatiently. ‘What makes you think I’ll interfere?’  
‘The look Robert gave you.’  
Yannick took a deep breath: ‘I see. I’ll have to watch myself if I become too easy to read.’ He smiled, ‘I shall wait until tomorrow and see. I trust them to make sure that the children are safe. If Robert can decipher me as well as he thinks then he will come and talk to me very soon. In the meantime, we have to tell Laure and Alex, and you will have to go and retrieve Charley from Lord Asquith’s house.’  
Laure and Alex were appalled. They disliked most of all the suggestion that Mrs. Owen was involved in these crimes. Laure just refused to buy it. The lady was good, she was sure of it. What about Paul? Asked Alex, would you have believed this of him if you had not been told there was proof of his demeanour? Laure had to reluctantly agree with her husband. She would not have done.  
Meredith had to go and pick up Charley. They all agreed that this conversation should not go on during dinner. Charley probably had a lot to say and they would pay attention to her. Her father would tell her tomorrow, hopefully they would know by then where to stand regarding Mrs. Owen.

Meredith arrived at the appointed time at Lord Asquith’s home and was led to the same room as this morning. He was left on his own, no one offered him refreshment while he waited. He did not have long to wait though, Charley soon appeared, and they made their way out through the hall. A doorman went to open the door for them, through an open door on the side, they could hear people speaking. Meredith turned cold when he heard a man say disdainfully: ‘…don’t know really, adopted son she said, her father’s catamite more like…’   
Unfortunately, Charley had heard also. She turned around, eyes flashing in anger, and rushed to the room before Meredith could stop her. He went after her and found her standing in front of two men who were standing up, frozen in front of the girl.  
‘Well,’ she said, ’explain to me what the word catamite means, and I will tell you if you are right or not.’  
Meredith put his arm round her shoulders as he watched the two men in the eyes and said: ‘Leave it, Charley, they won’t answer. It’s a word unsuitable for ladies’ ears. Let’s get out of this nest of vipers, we have better company to return to.’ Charley felt his fingers dig into her arm, she knew too that despite the calm tone of his voice, he was seething just as much as she was. She gave in. She was certain that they had insulted her father and Meredith. Ladies’ ears indeed! Meredith would explain, she’ll demand it of him!  
They settled in the carriage, Meredith wondering how he was going to answer Charley’s question. Then again it was not the first time she’d asked embarrassing questions …  
‘It’s to do with these old accusations in the newspapers, isn’t? Will it ever stop?’ Sighed Charley.  
‘I wish it would, but people love a good scandal. Who were they, those two men?’  
‘Lord Asquith’s sons. Papa met the one who spoke in Falmouth, the day mother came back in his life. I wish she hadn’t.’  
‘You had a bad day with her?’  
She shrugged: ‘I don’t belong to her world. She is obsessed with breeding horses. She loves hunting, she thinks reading is a waste of time.’  
‘Are you going to see her again before we leave?’  
‘No.’ She did not elaborate.   
Meredith could feel that she was disappointed, she had hoped to find some interest in common with her mother but had not succeeded apparently. He was a little surprised because Charley loved horses and she was an excellent rider, much better than he was. He often admired her when she galloped at full speed across the meadow at the front of the manor. This field used to be a landscaped garden in the old days reaching all the way to the top main road, but had overgrown over the years and had been left to return to wildlife because it would have cost too much to keep up. Yannick had liked it as it was, and the only alteration he had done had been to fence the upper part of the field, nearest the road to create an enclosure to keep some sheep and goats from straying from the meadow. They had picnics in the summer and of course Charley could ride. A trail with obstacles had been set up for her so that she could enjoy jumping. Meredith had thought that at least this passion of hers for riding would have helped create a bond with the Marquesa.  
Charley did not speak again on the way. She ran to her bedroom as soon as they reached the house and Meredith did not see her again until dinner.  
Over dinner, Charley repeated the words she had already spoken to Meredith about her mother’s interests. She’d had a long and boring day, she had played a little with Nicholas’s children, tried to show interest in her mother’s description of her beloved Sorano estate. Her mother had questioned her about her studies, had her piano playing improved since they last saw each other? Had her dancing improved ? Both had, thanks to cousin Angie. Was she still wasting as much time with old books written in Latin or Greek: she was, and had no intention of stopping. This last remark had not pleased Julia. Suitable contenders for her hand in marriage would be more impressed by her dancing and musical skills than with the fact that she could read Latin and Greek. At that point Charley had said that she did not care in the least what they would be impressed with, she had not yet decided if she wished to marry anyway.   
‘I am tired, Papa, I don’t want to talk about this wasteful day, if you don’t mind.’  
‘Fine. You can withdraw early if you wish.’  
Charley got up, gave him a kiss, thanked him, and wishing everyone a good night, she went up to her room. Angie also excused herself and moved next door to play the piano. Max and Meredith stayed in the drawing room with their parents.

Laure sighed. ‘So, lousy day all round. I hope tomorrow brings better news. I am still upset about your discovery today. You haven’t told Charley yet?’  
‘No, she liked Paul, I’m afraid. No point in upsetting her ever more than she’s already because of her mother.’  
‘We all did,’ said Alex, ‘thanks for keeping quiet.’ He said to Max. ‘Let’s not mention the subject to her until Yannick has a word first.’  
They all agreed. The evening entertainment was subdued, each one lost in their thoughts.   
‘Uncle Louis does not know either does he?’ asked Max.  
‘No. When I think of how involved Paul was…, he seemed so genuine at “The Sanctuary”, I really believed he cared! And all the time he was probably looking for his next victims.’  
‘Do you think that the woman who had Nick knew all along?’ asked Alex.  
‘Frankly? I don’t know either. If she was truthful, only her husband knew. Maybe they used her, I mean why give me the address of the brothel if she knew. It was taking an unnecessary risk. She must have guessed I intended to follow up with the information.’  
‘Not so fast though. Maybe she thought she could take your money and warn them later.’  
‘So that they could make sure that no children were on the premises when we raided you mean?’  
‘Yes, she probably did not count on you acting do fast.’  
‘Maybe. It was still risky though. One way or another she knew it would mean disruption with loss of earning. I mean there are so many brothels in London, it would have been easier for her to give me the address of one she did not trade with, no?’  
They nodded in agreement. Yannick looked at Meredith:  
‘You have been very quiet since you got back from the Asquith house. Is there something the two of you have not told me?’  
‘There is, Papa, but better wait for tomorrow. Charley and I need to sleep on it, if you don’t mind.’  
‘I do mind. I’ll respect your wishes, nevertheless. Don’t let it fester though.’  
Meredith groaned, ‘Charley is unlikely to, trust me. Can I withdraw please?’  
Yannick assented, unhappily. He would have preferred to have it out tonight. Max followed Meredith and only the three adults were left in the room. Angie was still playing next door, blissfully unaware of the malaise nearby.  
‘Go and talk to him now,’ said Laure, ‘I am pretty sure that he did not talk because he wanted a private word with you.’  
He nodded. He had come to the same conclusion himself, and so had Alex.  
‘You are not offended?’  
They laughed. ‘Go’  
Yannick knocked at Meredith’s door. Charley opened.   
‘I knew you’d come,’ she said simply, ‘I waited for Meredith to come up. I cannot sleep, I want an answer.’  
‘And has Meredith given one to you?’ Asked Yannick, entering the room. Meredith was sitting on his bed. He shook his head miserably. Charley repeated the snippets of conversation they had overheard.  
‘Oh, I really did not need to go there today, Charley,’ he moaned, then he took a deep breath. ‘All right. A catamite is a young man kept by an adult male for sexual intercourse. The words were insulting to both Meredith and I as you have gathered already. I have met Ashley Coombe, he is a self-opiniated imbecile, not worth wasting time on. Saying that, I suppose I should call him out.’  
‘Papa! No! You’ve always said that duels were senseless.’  
‘I have, yes. Thanks for reminding me. I’ll think of something. Now Charley, please don’t ask for more on the subject.’  
‘You mean, ask you to give details on what sexual intercourse are? No need. We’ve always had cats on the ship and now we have all kind of animals on the farm, I know how it works!’  
Yannick hissed in despair.   
‘While we are on difficult subjects though, there is something you need to know…,’ and he told her about Paul. As foreseen, she was upset. She had not met the children her father had rescued, but she knew that Meredith had suffered in a similar way in childhood and had had a difficult time leaving a normal life afterwards. To think that Paul, a man she had liked, had hurt children made her even more angry than Ashley’s words.  
The three of them talked for a while more, Yannick found that although Meredith and Charley were still very young, they were wise beyond their years and he was pleased that they had such a close relationship. Finally, he kissed them goodbyes and they went to their beds.

Yannick sat at his desk to write to Ethan. His hands were healing well, he still wore a bandage to protect his palms. John was massaging a thick unguent three times a day for him and bandaging the hands again. He had stopped rubbing the arnica unguent on Yannick’s shoulders after a few days as the pain had abated. The bandage on the hands was lighter now, it mainly protected clothes from the unguent. Writing was much easier, and he had started his diary again. In one of his letters, Ethan had asked why he had stopped it and he had also queried the fact that his writing was different and his letters much shorter. Yannick had simply said that he would explain when he got home.  
He had been writing for about one hour when he heard a soft knock on his door. He frowned, surprised, it was very late by now. He hoped that neither Charley nor Meredith had more questions for him. Instead, Robert was on the threshold, Yannick let him in.  
‘Don’t ask how I entered the house,’ whispered Robert, ‘and no, I am not checking on you.’  
Yannick huffed, ‘I know you don’t trust me to keep out!’  
‘With good reasons. I came to tell you about the latest information. Sir William had Paul Harrison put under watch immediately after you left. He did not go anywhere near Mrs. Owen’s house. I went there and spoke to Mary privately. She did not mention the drawing to Mrs. Owen as you had asked, and she said that the children did not speak of it either. Mary promised to send word if Paul came to the house, so in case the man slipped passed our constable, Mary will let us know.’  
‘Do you know how Sir William is going to tackle Mrs. Owen? It’s a delicate business. I’d hate it if she felt offended to have been suspected. It could give her grounds to refute our agreement.’  
‘You think that she is innocent.’  
‘I am, yes. Laure is too. Alex who does not know the lady, trusts his wife’s instinct.’  
Robert smiled. ‘A good man, your brother-in-law. I tend to agree with you that Mrs. Owen is a good person, but Sir William needs to be listened to here. He is a fair and cautious man, he will do nothing to offend the lady, I am sure.’  
‘Is he going to arrest the Reverend?’  
‘Not yet. He will talk to Mrs. Owen in the morning and see how she reacts to his words. If she sends a note to Harrison, then we’ll know that she is in with him. She will be watched also after Sir William’s visit. It will be discreet, don’t be alarmed.’  
‘She might not react immediately.’  
‘Oh, she will. Sir William is going to show her the portrait of the man who we know has abused Jamie and he will ask her if she knows him. This will be the first test. According to her answer, he will then proceed to telling her that his face will soon be on every newspaper in London, and once he’s caught, they will make him give the names of his accomplices. If she is involved, she is going to warn him to run away, for her own sake if not his.’  
‘I see. I can’t fault his plan and I hope it works. Of course, she could realise that I saw this drawing today and therefore identified Paul…’  
‘Not at all. As far as we know she does not know of the drawing, and the portrait will be an aquarelle and not Meredith’s art.’  
‘It looks as if you thought of everything. I still wish I could be of further help though.’  
‘You are bored?’  
Yannick grinned. ‘That obvious is it? Tomorrow, we are spending the day with William and Georgiana, Alex’s sister. They are nice people only I don’t know what I will find to talk to them about. And the worst visit will be in a few days, when we are invited to a dinner at the dowager’s house…’  
‘When are you going home?’  
‘Soon after Twelves Night.’  
Robert got up, ‘I better go now.’  
‘Same route as earlier?’  
‘Yes. I need your help, come down with me and lock the window after me.’  
The two men left the room and made their way quietly downstairs to the small day room which window Robert had managed to open from the street. When asked how he’d done it, he showed Yannick his kit of instruments worthy of the best burglars.   
They were standing very close to each other, their eyes met and Robert suddenly kissed Yannick’s lips. Yannick froze for a second before answering the kiss. Robert kissed him roughly, hungrily. One of his hands sliding to the back of Yannick’s head while the other one clutched his waist. He held him tight, pushing him against the curtains masking the window. The kiss lasted a long time. Yannick broke it, panting, still held in the other man’s arms. He could feel his desire, could not miss the fact that he too was hard.  
Robert moved forward again; this time Yannick moved his head round.  
‘Robert, please, stop. We must not.’  
‘Why not, you want me.’  
‘Yes…I mean no... Let’s not complicate things, Robert, please.’  
‘We’re both intelligent enough to keep this private.’  
‘It’s not what I mean. I have a lover, back in Cornwall.’  
‘Well, he’s not here now, and you want me.’ Robert pushed his hips forward and was gratified with a moan from Yannick. ‘I am not asking for your love, Ian, just a …’  
Yannick’s fingers touched Robert’s lips. ‘Shut up. Please. Let me go, I don’t want to betray him...’  
‘Your words don’t match your body language,’ whispered Robert. He was speaking true. Yannick had not pulled away from Robert’s body, their hips touching, his left hand was still clutching his arm. He moaned:  
‘I know. It’s difficult to let you go, but I don’t want to live the rest of my life with the burden of betrayal.’  
He forced himself away from the warm embrace. Robert let go of him and asked, ‘is that the only reason? I mean if this man was not in your life…would you…?  
‘Yes.’  
Robert watched him intensely. He could see the desire in Yannick’s eyes as well as his fight to regain control of his body. He had wanted this man from the moment he had met him. Later, he had regretted not making a move at the time because when they had met again in London, he had discovered that he had become Lord Vernon’s lover. He had not expected meeting the alluring Frenchman again after he had returned home to Cornwall, hurt and mourning his dead lover.   
‘I am too late again. I should have kept in touch with you sooner after Lord Vernon died. Before you fell in love again. I think we would be good in bed together.’  
‘Probably, yes; but we must not, too many complications.’  
Robert chuckled: ‘And I thought you reckless! There would be no complications. We would just enjoy each other’s body. No strings attached.’  
And Robert kissed him again. A sweeter kiss at first, careful of Yannick’s reaction. He was rewarded with the same passion as before. Their bodies close again, hips pushing forward, bodies responding to their needs for each other. Yannick broke the kiss, his breathing was uneven, Robert read the desire and at the same time the anguish in the other man’s eyes. He was going to surrender, Robert was certain of it, but he also realised that he was wrong to think that there would be no complications. Yannick was going to resent him afterwards, because of his guilt, he might even feel that Robert had taken advantage of his loneliness. He was going to lose a friend for the sake of one soon over pleasurable moment. He pulled away resolutely, turned around and opened the curtains, then the window.   
‘Thank you for being honest,’ he said, ‘sweet dreams, Amiral.’ And he jumped through and disappeared into the night.  
Yannick, trembling slightly, closed the window and locked it, before drawing back the curtains.  
Back in his room, his eyes fell on the letter he had been writing to Ethan before he was interrupted. He blushed. If Robert had not pulled away, he would have yielded. He had wanted it. Still wanted it, his erection was still painfully there to prove it. He had nearly betrayed Ethan, his lover, the man he had pledged to love forsaking all others. He was suddenly deeply ashamed of himself, of how weak his body was. He undressed and got into bed. He decided against giving himself relief. Sleep would probably allude him now. Nothing new there. It was going to be a long night, he would use it to reflect on his weakness, try to understand why he had been tempted to lie with Robert despite his love for Ethan. He was thankful that Robert was an honourable man.


	19. Paul's revenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paul has found a way to fullfill his odious contract and get his revenge on Yannick at the same time.

3rd January 1819

At breakfast, he did not reveal that he’d had a visitor during the night. For one thing, he did not want to worry the household about the fact that it was fairly easy to have access to their house. He chose instead to have a private word with Alex about it. Alex was not at all pleased by Robert’s intrusion, but in the end, he understood the man’s motives and he begrudgingly admitted that now that he knew how unsafe his house was, he could do something about it.  
Yannick tried to concentrate on the letters he had received in answer to his advert for a tutor for Charley and Meredith. He had only received two. He had set out the advert insisting that the student was a girl to be tutored in ancient languages as well as sciences. He did not want any possible misunderstanding which would make him waste his time. One answer came from a young man who had finished university and one from a thirty-five years old woman. He chose to reply to both and invite them to visit him after Twelves night.   
After lunch, they visited William, Georgiana and the children. Yannick wished that some of Nicky’s enthusiasm could rub on him, unfortunately it didn’t. He had found the couple terribly dreary over the Christmas holiday season and expected to be thoroughly bored all afternoon and all evening. He was tired too after his sleepless, frustrated night and hoped it would not show. The last thing he wanted was to offend Alex by being rude to his sister.  
He was pleasantly surprised: without the dowager casting her over-powerful shadow over them, the couple was very different. William knew Cornwall very well and he was interested in a wide variety of subjects. They talked about steam engines, William swearing that soon large ships would no longer have sails but be propelled by engines instead. Richard Wright’s small steamboat had proven in 1813 that such boats could withstand the sea. William knew about kaolin mining also. He gave Yannick his own insight into the business, and when Meredith joined the conversation, he encouraged the young man to think again about transforming the clay into pottery. Other subjects were talked about, Georgiana joined in and Yannick discovered that she had a delightful sense of humour.   
After an excellent dinner and too much wine, they returned to Grosvenor square. Yannick wondered if Robert had news about Mrs. Owen. He doubted that he would see himself in the house again in the same way, especially after the way they had parted.  
He did not have to worry for long. As soon as they entered the house, the butler informed Alex that Mr. Fellowes was waiting for them in the drawing room.  
The four adolescents were told to retire to their rooms. Charley took it upon herself to take Nick to bed. Laure, Alex and Yannick entered the drawing room where Robert was waiting for them. His news was reassuring. Mrs. Owen had immediately told Sir William that the man in the portrait was the reverend Paul Harrison. It must be a mistake though, she had said, the reverend could never be implicated in such a sordid business. She sang his praises for a few minutes, telling them that she could vouch for him and that Lady Durfield probably would as well.  
Sir William had a difficult task getting her to believe his version of the real personality of the man. And Lady Durfield would not vouch for him, she believed Sir William. At the end they had to resort to Mary bringing Jamie down and showing him the picture. The little boy hid behind Mary’s dress and when Mrs. Owen asked him if he had seen the man before he had nodded fearfully. To her question: where? Jamie uttered ‘the bad house’ before saying ‘hurt me’. Alan and Jane also came in and described how Paul was a regular client at the brothel and how he had twice bought boys to take them out. These children had not returned, they did not know what had happened to them.  
Mrs. Owen was distraught. Tears were running down her face. ‘These poor, poor children,’ she kept repeating, time and time again. Mary made her a cup of tea while Jane was taking Jamie away to return to the classroom where the maid was looking after the others. The cuppa helped Mrs. Owen recover her spirits. She asked Sir William how she could help to put the villain away for ever, or even better see him condemned to the gallows.  
Sir William told her that matters were on hands, she had to do nothing more than what she was already doing, which was providing a home for the man’s victims.  
Laure was glad beyond words that Mrs. Owen was not in league with Paul. She knew that if she had been, her own trust in human nature would have taken a severe blow. Robert failed to tell her that Mrs. Owen’s house was still watched, just in case…  
‘What’s next?’ Asked Yannick, ‘have you arrested Paul?’  
‘No. We are still watching him. Sir William is hoping that he will lead us to his accomplices. We hope to find who wanted these poor children he was trying to get. He must be worried now that he knows that some who can identify him are out of his reach. I don’t think that he’ll risk going anywhere near Mrs. Owen’s now. One of the women from the brothel has told us that he wanted a young child for a special ‘Twelves night party’ and had been very angry to find that Jamie was not suitable. He must be getting desperate by now. He might visit other brothels he knows provide children.’  
Yannick was horrified, ‘you are going to risk him hurt a child to catch your quarry!’  
Robert looked embarrassed, ‘we are watching him all the time hoping that he leads us to another brothel so that we can close it down too. If we see him collect a child from somewhere else, we shall make sure that the child is safe...’   
‘Surely, Robert,’ piped in Laure, ‘there can’t be more of these in London. This kind of depravity cannot possibly be widespread.’  
‘Unfortunately, My lady, I believe that it is. Trials about child rapes are frequent at the magistrate’s court, and unfortunately, adults are rarely convicted. This time we have high hopes though.’   
Robert got up, ‘I must go now, I just wanted to let you know,’ he looked at Yannick, ‘do I still have your word that you will not interfere?’  
Yannick nodded, after a deep sigh. He held his hand out for Robert who took it. It was strange this conventional handshake after what happened the last time they’d parted. They had a connection, they both felt it. It was unsettling for Yannick who had come to the conclusion this morning, after hours of soul searching during the night, that he could not easily brush away the previous night’s events…  
At least he was too tired to think or worry about it tonight. He did not like their plan very much, but he would stay away. 

4th January 1819

If Yannick slept fairly well that night, Paul did not. Since Lady Durfield had told him of the raid on the brothel and the rescue of the children kept there, he had been trying to reassure himself that no one could connect him to the brothel. When he thought that only two days earlier, he had been there and could have been caught with a child in his bed…he shivered.  
The employees knew him, but they did not know his name and they were not the type to frequent church services at St Georges’. As for the inhabitants of “The Sanctuary”, they knew him as the kind reverend who helped make their lives more bearable out of charity. They did not know that he used the visits to find his future preys.   
He regretted having to look for a new henchman after the one he’d had for years had died. It was taking him months to find the right man for the job. He could not very well advertise and interview for it, could he. It was a risky business, picking up young children in workhouses, streets or brothels and it was not a job many wanted to do.  
He’d had to act himself several times, his rich customers had become impatient. He had restricted himself to one brothel he knew kept children. Precisely the one which had been raided. It had been a close call, he had needed two boys, one a virgin and one pliant, and he had come out empty handed. They had no virgin at the moment and the boy who had caught his eyes had not been suitable. He had snivelled throughout the whole act. It was annoying. Paul had had to strike him at the end and threatened to kill him if he was not still. Not what his customer had wanted.   
Paul’s customers paid him half in advance. He had had to give back the money he’d received for the pliant boy he had not provided. It was the first time he had not been successful in his mission and it hurt his pride. He had thought about going back to the brothel and getting his own back on the child out of spite but of course now it was not possible. He knew that the boy was probably one of the ones that do-gooder Lucy Owen had accepted to house which meant that her house was definitely out of bounds for him; still, it was lucky that Lady Durfield had told him about the raid… Better forget this and concentrate on finding his other quarry because he was loathed to fail there too.   
The trouble was Twelves night was only two days away and he did not know where he could find a very young pretty virgin boy in time. He would have to kidnap a child because he doubted that he could find one in the workhouses, besides he did not want to take the risk of questions being asked or to show his face at the moment.   
He planned to walk the streets and parks to look, unfortunately, the rain disrupted his plan. Children would not be out in the rain. He gave up. He still had tomorrow and the day after, the child was only needed on the night of the 6th. He received parishioners as usual, regretting that Mrs. Owen was not among them. He could have got information without risking approaching her house. Never mind, tomorrow would be a better day, he sensed it in his bones.

5th January 1819

Paul conducted the morning service at church and was pleased to see that the day was brighter than the previous one. Find a boy, deliver him, get paid and disappear. That was his mission for the day. By the time he was missed he’d be well on his way to a new life far away.  
He knew where to go to find the largest possible number of children: the confectioners’ shops on Oxford street and at Oxford Market. Furthermore, the venue was near his private room in Titchfield Street, at the back of Oxford Market. He had been renting this downstairs back room for nearly four years now. He was using it to ‘store’ the children he had found but could not immediately deliver to his customers.   
In this block of flats, people minded their own business, each trying to make a living without bothering his neighbour. Paul came in and out at irregular times, mostly at night and keeping himself to himself. No one in the building suspected that they had the worst kind of men living among them, one who kept little children tied up to a bed post, gagged and drugged for a few hours until he could deliver them to an even worse fate.   
With only two days left before Twelves night there would be plenty of customers rushing to buy their cake at the last minute and plenty more just looking at the shop’s windows. Lady Durfield’s brother had bought the cakes he had distributed to the poor in these shops. Paul recalled the visit all too well, he had been hopeful to find the right boy at “The Sanctuary” but had been disappointed. Nothing good had come out of this visit, additionally, he was sure that these two were responsible for his problems. De Courcelles had told him of his intentions at the time, only Paul had not taken him seriously, he had changed his mind since.   
He had certainly picked the right venue. Families with children were packing the streets, crowding in front of the shops to admire the dazzling displays of cakes. Pickpockets were hard at work too, he noticed, amused. He watched the children’s faces with attention, dismissing them as he walked on: too old, too plain, too thin, too pudgy, too sullen…He had put on a plain dark coat and a hat, nothing that could attract attention to him. He continued from shop to shop until he saw the one he was looking for and when he did, he realised that he had seen this child before, twice.  
The last time he had seen him, the boy had been at the window waving at Charley as they departed for “The sanctuary” a few days earlier. Paul knew exactly who the pretty little boy with his big smile and head of lose honey-coloured curls waving them goodbyes was: he was de Courcelles’ youngest child. He had first noticed him on Christmas eve at the Durfield House too, in fact he had found it difficult not to watch the boy too frequently that night. He smiled at himself: luck was on his side today; he had found the perfect child and he was offered an opportunity to take his revenge on Lady Durfield and her righteous brother.  
He could see the boy through a shop window. The child was designating to the shop assistant which cakes he wanted from the window display. Paul could not see who was accompanying him, so he withdrew from the front of the crowd to watch and be ready to follow the boy when he came out. After a few minutes, a young woman carrying boxes exited the shop followed by the child who then waited and held out his hand to Lady Durfield. The two women and the boy walked on the pavement in the direction of Grosvenor square. They were going home. Paul would not have much time to carry out his deed.   
He knew the area very well. He had to act before they crossed Oxford street because Titchfield street was only a few streets away, on this side of Oxford Street. He hurried, they were about to cross Prince’s street, going further away from his room at the corner of Titchfield street and Margaret street.   
He knocked a few people on purpose, hurrying and creating a diversion and as Lady Durfield started to cross Prince’s street, he violently pushed her forward and sent her sprawling on the road. Shouts of anger and horror were heard, a man rushed to help the lady and her maid, embarrassed by her boxes bent to help also.   
Laure had let go of Nick’s hand in her fall. Paul quickly swooped the boy in his arms and ran away with him on Prince’s street, he turned right in Castle street and left in Ogle street. He was not running any more, just walking fast, he was holding the child tight against his chest, with his left hand pressing the back of Nick’s head hard against his shoulder to muffle his cries. He passed few people in these streets, besides they were busy going about their own business and not caring about his. He looked behind him before going left to Margaret street, no one behind him and no one in Margaret street, he chose to run again, he was not risking getting caught so near safety. At last he was in Titchfield street, at the door of his building. He entered. He had done it.

A crowd of curious onlookers had gathered around Laure. A gentleman had helped her get up and was holding her propped up against the wall with her maid on the other side. She was beside herself; her first thoughts had been for Nick and when she had realised that he was gone she had started to tremble all over, crying desperately for people to find him.  
The constable who followed Paul had a difficult time reaching them because of the crowd and Paul’s sudden unexpected rush had caught him unaware. By the time he had turned into Prince’s street, Paul was nowhere on sight. The constable ran to the next streets corners but was unlucky. Passers-by had not seen anything suspicious or so they said.   
The constable roamed the streets, desperate to find Paul and his victim. Their plan had gone terribly wrong: the man had been more cunning than them and now they had lost him, and he had a child. By the time he returned to the corner of Prince’s street where the foul deed had happened, the child’s mother was no longer there, the constable now had the unenviable task of reporting his double failure to Sir William and Robert Fellowes.  
A gentleman had stopped a hackney coach to take Laure and her maid home. Laure could not stop shaking and crying. The right side of her face was badly bruised, her right arm was extremely painful, probably broken and her knee hurt also. The gentleman accompanied both distraught women to Grosvenor square and knocked at the door asking for assistance from the doorman. Footmen transported her ladyship inside the house and up to her bedroom. The gentleman left his name and address, he had witnessed the incident he said, although he would not be able to describe the kidnapper, unfortunately: it had all happened far too quickly.  
A note was sent to the family physician immediately as well as to Alex who was in town visiting his banker. Yannick was also out, he had taken the four cousins to the British Museum, they were going to visit some other place after, but no one knew where.   
The physician arrived just before Alex. He had to administer a few drops of laudanum to Laure who was as distressed as ever. Her arm was broken, and the physician had just set it when Alex stormed in.   
The sight of his wife, badly bruised and in tears moved him deeply. She was such a strong person; he had never seen her in such a desperate state. He took her in his arms, whispering soothing words of comfort to her. She pushed him away gently:  
‘You don’t understand, Yannick will never forgive me for this.’  
Alex frowned, she was right, he did not understand, ‘he took Nicky, I couldn’t stop him.’ She sobbed.  
He froze. He still did not understand and because she was crying again so much, he could not get her to speak. It was her maid who explained: the shopping trip, the man who had pushed her ladyship and made her fall, and used the confusion to ran away with Master Nicholas.   
Paul Harrison. It had to be him. Alex was sure of it. He did not tell Laure that he too feared Yannick’s reaction when he’d hear the news; he recalled only too well the conversation they’d had earlier and Yannick’s objections at the thought of a child being put in danger by not arresting Paul immediately. The fact that Yannick’s fears had materialised and that furthermore the child in danger was Nicky…Alex could not repress a shiver at the thought of how his brother-in-law was going to react at the dreadful news… Hope was raised in Alex’s mind though because he knew that Paul was being followed by a constable. He told Laure they were going to find him; she calmed down a little, either because of Alex’s words or the laudanum. Alex stayed with her, holding her in his arms until she finally dropped off to sleep.  
Alex’s hope regarding Nicky being found quickly were dashed as soon as he caught a glimpse of Robert’s long face when he came in the house. Yannick still had not returned with the children and Alex thought that it was a blessing in disguise. Better if they got used to the situation and know all the facts before he returned.

The magistrate had despatched all his available constables to look for Paul in the area where he had disappeared. Robert was confident that he would be found. At least he gave that impression. They had been talking for about one hour when Yannick returned. He immediately sensed that something was wrong by the general atmosphere in the house and especially by the way that the servants walked with their heads down, avoiding looking at him.  
Robert and Alex’s gloomy faces forewarned him that bad news were on the offing. He was not prepared for how awful these were though. He remained stunned, unable to move or think when the intolerable truth was revealed to him. He sat down, white as a sheet and closed his eyes willing himself to wake up from the dreadful nightmare he was experiencing.  
He came around eventually and asked how Laure was faring. Not well, said Alex, she blamed herself.  
‘I’ll go and talk to her,’ with these words Yannick got up and left the room. Alex followed him, worried despite himself. He was stopped by the children who had heard rumours from the servants and were hovering in the hall. He told them what had happened in a few words and excused himself, he wanted to check on Laure. Angie and Max wanted to come up, but Alex thought that they should wait until she was a little better. Robert told them to come into the drawing room, he’d explain better to them and give them an update on Laure’s condition. He did not show it, but like Alex he was worried about Yannick’s unpredictability when it touched his children’s welfare.   
Yannick entered Laure’s room. Her maid was sitting by her bed, he read fear in the young woman’s eyes. It saddened him. He sat on the bed and took Laure’s hand in his. She was asleep, the bruises and swelling badly disfigured her lovely face. He bent and kissed her cheek, caressing her head gently. Her eyes fluttered open. They immediately filled with tears seeing her brother near her. He kissed her again, held her gently and rocked her against him.  
Alex came in, he heard her whisper, ‘sorry, I’m so very sorry…forgive me…,’  
‘Shhh, nothing to forgive, love. There is only one person to blame and it’s not you.’ He wiped her tears with his fingers. ‘Does it hurt much? Your arm?’  
‘It’s broken. It’s bearable thanks to the laudanum,’ she saw Alex, hovering by the door, ‘any news?’  
He sat on the other side of the bed: ‘Not yet. We’ll let you know. Angie and Max want to see you, are you up to it?’  
‘I am sleepy, but yes I’d like to see them, please.’  
Alex nodded and left the room to fetch his children, reassured by Yannick’s attitude, and a little guilty for thinking that he might have reacted differently.

Paul Harrison knew that to have aggressed a high born lady and kidnapped her young nephew in broad day light was going to bring an army of constables in the area as soon as it was reported and that he therefore had very little time to get out of the area in question.  
He gagged the crying boy and tied him securely to the bed post. The child did not resist him, he was tetanised by fright. He forced him to drink water in which he had put drops of laudanum. He would leave him there until next morning when he would take him to his client ahead of the party the man was arranging for the evening. Paul changed his clothes to a lighter more elegant coat, he took an umbrella with him, no hat, and he left the room. He never opened his curtains so if one of his neighbours ventured in the back yard, nothing unusual would be noticed.   
The shortest way back to St Georges’ church was by Prince’s street, but he did not want to risk it, so he took a longer way around, crossing Oxford street at the corner of Market street and going down Poland street turning several times right or left until he reached his official residence in Mill street, at the back of St George’s church. He had passed several pedestrians on the way, but everything seemed normal, he was not challenged or followed: words of his villainy had not reached his neighbourhood yet.  
Unknown to him though, his path brought him to the attention on the constable who was watching Mrs. Owen’s house on Conduit street. The man was surprised to see Paul Harrison walk pass him in the street going toward Mill street and even more surprised to find that he was not followed by a constable as he should have been. He made the decision to see where Paul was heading, and just as he turned the street corner, he saw him enter his house. There was still no sign of Paul being followed. That was odd. The constable chose to watch Paul’s door as well as Mrs. Owen’s, this way he could report on any visitors Harrison would receive. So, he settled at the corner of Mill street and Conduit street for his vigil.  
Within an hour, another constable came to report to him that Paul Harrison had kidnapped Lady Durfields’ nephew and escaped their vigilance, he was required to watch out for Paul’s presence in the area while searches continued around Oxford Market.   
‘Paul Harrison is at home, he walked here one hour ago, he was alone and not in a hurry either.’   
‘Any movement around Mrs. Owen’s?’  
‘Nothing unusual, all is quiet. The three lodgers went out to work at their normal time this morning and have not yet returned. The maid went to market also in the morning and came back with a full basket one hour later. No visitors or exit since.’  
‘I’ll replace you here. You better go and report what you’ve seen to Robert Fellowes and Sir William. They are at Lord Durfields’ house in Grosvenor square.’  
Upon hearing the constable’s report, Yannick’s first reaction was to go to Paul’s and extract from him by all means the address where he had taken his son. Sir William forced him to sit down and listen.  
‘We must outwit him. I don’t believe he’s had time to deliver your son to his client. Think on it, the constable has noted the time when he saw Paul at his house, it was within three quarter of an hour from him kidnaping your child to getting home. Furthermore, he had changed clothes within that time too which shows that he must have another room somewhere near and that in all probability that’s where Nick is. Maybe he has an accomplice, I don’t know, but I doubt it, if he had he would have got the accomplice to take the child away. His operation was risky, someone could have recognised him, he must be getting desperate. I think we should increase our vigil. Put three or more constables near his house and watch him. Twelves night is tomorrow, that is when he has to deliver the child. We follow him, find out where Nick is being held and then act.’  
‘I agree with your reasoning, sir, only I don’t believe that you will act as soon as you see him with Nick. I think that you will not want to pass over an opportunity to catch his client and my son will be put in danger.’   
‘I understand your fears and I admit that I want to know who the man is, but I promise you that your child’s safety will come first. Let us follow Paul to where he must take Nick and then we’ll act.’  
‘You’ll have no proof to convict the villain, what will be the point?’  
‘We will have his address and we will have Harrison to put pressure on. Help us, sir, trust us, you have gone so far, furthermore what if we attempt to arrest Harrison now and it goes badly wrong, he could escape or worse kill himself in which case we will not know where your son is kept...’  
Yannick exhaled, ‘I don’t know. I need to think about this, you are asking for an awful lot.’ He got up and moved to the window, pressing his forehead on the windowpane. His whole being was screaming at him not to listen, to run to Paul’s, beat him up until he told him where Nick was. But what if he refused to talk, what if Sir William was right, Nick could be lost for ever.   
Robert put his hand on his shoulder, ‘trust us, trust me. We’ll get your son back. I promise you if it’s the last thing I do.’ Their eyes met. It was the first time since they had kissed the other night. Of course, he trusted Robert. He nodded, ‘all right, but I want to be part of the operation.’  
Sir William frowned, ‘Sir, my constables are trained men of action, it’s not your calling.’  
This time, Yannick laughed bitterly, ‘more so than to dance in a ball room, I assure you. And have you forgotten that I got 6 children out by a 2nd floor window of a brothel on fire?’  
Sir William agreed begrudgingly; he knew that he would not be able to give direct order to Yannick. The man was a bit of a mystery too, he was a foreigner, son of a French duke was all he had managed to gather. He did not know how he had got close to Robert who was very vague when questioned about his friend. Still, he could understand the man’s need to be included in the operation. His son’s life was at stake.

6th January 1819

Yannick had slept that night thanks to Laure’s physician who had convinced him of taking a drink where a few drops of laudanum had been added. He had rebelled when the physician had suggested it until Alex had reminded him that he needed to be in good condition next day. So, he had accepted and this morning he begrudgingly admitted that he was feeling much refreshed and ready for action. He knew it could be a long and frustrating wait before he could recover Nick; two constables would be watching Paul at all time and others would be posted at key points within the area where Sir William felt sure Paul’s secret room was. One of the men would act as a go-between to keep them informed of developments. Sir William said that some of his men would be on horseback, he was determined not to lose the man again.  
They had spent a long time bent over a map of London last night, trying to determine where that room could be, taking into account how quickly Paul had managed to get back to Mill street after the abduction of Nick. The area round Oxford market was especially well covered because Sir William couldn’t imagine that Paul had managed to go much further carrying a child who was probably struggling.  
Alex, Yannick and the children attended the church service at St George’s that morning, to pray as a family for Nick’s return and Laure’s recovery. This had been suggested by Sir William on the previous evening; the magistrate had pointed out that not going would raise eyebrows from neighbours and suspicions from Paul who was conducting the service. After it ended, he made his way toward the two brothers-in-law and offered his sympathies in their hour of need. Alex and Yannick had prepared themselves for it, Paul must remain totally unaware that he was under scrutiny. The two men had sent their children away, not trusting them to be as good actors as they could. Mrs. Owen and many parishioners, some of them unknown to Alex, offered their good wishes to them and prayers for a good ending to this dreadful business. It was heart-warming to see that so many cared. Laure was well liked in the parish and of course people’s hearts bled for the little child in danger.  
The service had been early, they had breakfast afterwards at the house. Yannick had pondered for a long time about his next move. He had wished to stay behind near the church and join the men keeping an eye on Paul. Since seeing him again, Yannick did not want to let him out of his sight. Alex had reasoned with him that Paul was not going to run away immediately, he was receiving parishioners after the service, so Yannick should avoid suspicions at all costs and return to the house with them.   
Laure was better after a fairly good night sleep, her face was not so swollen now, but she was black and blue, and her arm hurt. The physician called again and had a look at Yannick’s hands as well, declaring that he could keep the bandages off now as his skin had healed. Soon after the physician’s departure, Yannick left the house, he could not hold on any longer. He resisted Meredith desire to come with him: he was not going to expose another of his children to danger and that was that. He wore a black over coat with large pockets in which he slid his pistols. He also tucked a dagger in one of his boots for good measure. He doubted that Sir William or Robert would approve so he did not mention it.  
Paul did not make them wait too long. He was soon on his way, walking roughly in the same direction that he had on the previous day. He changed directions often, turning right or left down small streets and passages, through St James’s burial ground, stopping near a grave at one point to give himself an opportunity to look around. He did not detect Sir William’s constables or Yannick who was following behind the men. Sir William had told the truth when he had said that his very best men would be on duty on this all-important day.  
When Paul made his way up Poland street to Oxford street, they thought that they had been right in their deductions about his hiding place. Then, much to their surprise, Paul hailed a hackney coach. He talked to the driver for a few minutes, then money was exchanged, and Paul climbed in. A constable started to run behind at a distance. The coach did not go far, it turned into Market street, passed Oxford market on its left, continued into Titchfield street where it stopped at the corner with Margaret street, in front of a building.   
The constable who had run behind the hackney had been replaced by one posted at the corner of Oxford Market. They saw the hackney stop from a distance, and Harrison enter a house. One of the constables on horseback approached from Margaret street toward the corner house Paul had entered, ready to follow the hackney which was obviously waiting for his customer to reappear.

Paul spent ten long minutes inside the house. Nick had cried himself to sleep eventually. Paul untied the rope holding him to the bed. The child was parched, Paul had given him a drink of water before leaving him hours ago and the child needed more. Paul took off the gag to let him drink, he had added one drop of laudanum to the water. He’d rather deliver a sleepy child to his client than a screaming one. How Nick would behave after was none of Paul’s business: he would have received his money by then and be well away. He held the cup for the child then he replaced the gag. He then pushed a large clothes bag over Nick’s head, engulfing the little body and roped its aperture closed before swinging it over his shoulder and leaving the room.  
Yannick had joined the men on Oxford Market, and he was peering anxiously at the house, hoping to catch a glimpse of his son. Finally, Paul emerged, carrying a large bag over his shoulder. He dumped the bag inside the hackney, climbed in, and signalled the driver to move.  
Yannick’s heart had gone cold at the sight. He had no doubt that Nick was inside that bag. An awful thought entered his head: what if something had gone wrong during the night? What if Nick had not survived? What if they lost sight of the hackney? Once again, he was torn with wanting to go and rescue him immediately or let Sir William’s men do their work.   
The constable on horseback followed the hackney from a safe distance. Sir William and Robert, who had also been on the scene, appeared in a carriage to Yannick’s surprise: he had not noticed them among the other people and carriages outside the busy market. They took Yannick on board as well as two other constables and they followed the constable on horseback. Yannick could not help voicing his fears to them: Robert reassured him, he was convinced that if Nick was not alive then Harrison would not have bothered paying for a hackney to take the body away, he would have waited until night time and dumped it in the nearby gardens instead. Yannick nodded, it made sense, he felt a little less anxious.   
Paul’s hackney turned left to Portland street and right back to Oxford street where it picked up some speed. At the end of Oxford street, it turned left into New bond street, continued down Old bond street to emerge in Piccadilly. It turned left, passed Burlington house and finally stopped in front of an elegant town house. Paul jumped out of the hackney with his bag on his shoulder and made his way towards the tradesmen’s entrance of the house. The hackney remained outside, an indication to Paul’s followers that he did not mean to stay long in the house.  
Sir William’s carriage stopped in turn outside the house.

‘Do you know who lives here?’ Asked Yannick.  
‘I’m afraid I don’t. We shall give it ten minutes then we shall require entry to the house. That should have been enough time for Harrison to have been admitted to the master. We shall have one constable watch the trade entrance, and Robert, can you stay and watch the front door please, he might try to storm out. I leave our rider with you. We’ll take two constables,’ he addressed Yannick, ‘no point in asking you to stay out and wait, is it?’  
‘No, sir.’  
They waited in tense silence. Sir William took another look at his watch and he gave the signal they’d all been waiting for. He knocked at the front door. After a few interminable minutes for the anxious father, the butler opened the door and informed the visitors that the colonel was not receiving visitors. Sir William had been expecting this. The constable standing next to him pushed the door open violently without letting the slightest chance to the butler to stop his gesture.   
The constable, Sir William, Yannick and the another constable entered the hall. The butler protested loudly against the intrusion. Yannick pushed him roughly against the door and demanded to know where the colonel was. The butler had made enough noise to rise the household, already two footmen had appeared and seemed decided to take on the unwanted visitors.  
‘I am Sir William Armitage, magistrate at Lincoln’s inn court, I don’t advise you to hold us back.’ The voice was stern, and the words stopped the servants from resisting. ‘Take us to your master now.’  
The butler led the way up the stairs, looking forlorn. The colonel had insisted that he wanted no interruption whatsoever. He took the men at the end of the corridor, to his master’s study. He knocked and an angry insult responded. Sir William impatiently turned the door handle and found the door locked. He nodded to his men who kicked the door open under the aghast look of the butler.   
The four men erupted in the room. Paul reacted first. He picked up Nicky and held him by the waist against his body while pressing a knife to the child’s throat.  
The colonel, a portly man in his fifties, demanded to know what the disruption was. Sir William told him; Paul Harrison had kidnapped the child he was now holding. The colonel mumbled that he had no idea, he thought Paul had brought his son with him to visit. His words brought a furious retort from Paul.  
‘You liar, you paid me to get this child for your amusement tonight,’ he then addressed the other men, ‘you either let me go through or I cut his throat.’  
Everyone withdrew, let him pass. Nick was like a rag doll, his eyes half closed, he did not react at the sight of his father there, Yannick thought him drugged. He was seething with rage but knew that Paul, with nothing to lose, would not hesitate to kill his child.  
Paul came down and reaching the hall, he ordered the door to be opened, he renewed his threat, in the hall and in the street. He smiled when he saw a constable on a horse back just outside the front door, ‘get down,’ he ordered, ‘and thank you for providing me with fast transport!’ The constable looked at Sir William who nodded and he obeyed.  
Paul reached the horse and as he was lifting Nick to put him across the saddle, a shot resounded, and Paul slid to the ground with a bullet at the back of his head. Nick fell too, luckily, he was still against Paul so his abductor’s body softened his fall. After one second of shock, Yannick ran and picked up his son. He was unscathed.   
Robert had been waiting for the right moment to fire his pistol. As soon as he had seen Paul lift the child and put the knife a little further away from his throat, he had pressed the trigger. He looked happily at Yannick, kneeling on the ground and cradling Nick in his arms, his head buried in the child’s shoulder. He was crying, Robert was sure of it.

The commotion was by now attracting quite a crowd in the street. The colonel had remained in his study, thinking that with Paul’s death he had little chance to be bothered. He watched from the window as Sir William recovered a heavy purse from Paul’s coat. The payment was in cold sovereigns, Sir William did not count the coins but knew it was a hefty sum of money. He looked up at the man looking down on him. Their eyes met. The colonel did not look worried, he looked angry. He had lost a great deal of money and he could not now look forward to his party, his friends were going to be very disappointed, they may even let him down now that suspicion would plague him.  
What a shame, the boy was absolutely perfect…such sweet face, such beautiful eyes and soft blond curls…he had not even had time to undress him…what a shame…  
Sir William asked his driver to take Yannick and Nick home immediately then come back for him. A constable was despatched to find an undertaker to take Paul’s body away. The hackney driver was held just long enough to give his details to Robert. The man had looked on with horror at the drama which had unfolded under his eyes, thanking god that Paul had not chosen to escape in his coach instead of the horse. Sir William re-entered the house with Robert. They intended to question every member of staff in the house and grill the colonel too.

The house in Grosvenor square was strangely quiet. The servants moved in silence, bringing cups of teas and snacks. There should have been a party here tonight. Anna, Louis and Miss Leary had arrived at the house in the morning after they had received the note that Alex had sent to tell them of the distressing events. They had been due to come later to the party, now they were only here to support their family in their time of need.  
Charley and Meredith had not left their post by the window of the front sitting room since their father had walked to St George’s to join the constables watching Paul. Angie and Max had not tried to distract them, knowing that they would act similarly in their place. With their father, they alternated between sitting down with them and sharing cups of tea before returning to keep company to Laure. Anna and Louis had also sat by her bedside, and when they did not, they sat with Miss Leary, keeping company to Charley and Meredith.  
Grosvenor square was busy on this special holiday festive time. Every time a carriage appeared, Charley and Meredith started to hope, but so far none had stopped, and no one had brought any news either.

‘This one is slowing down,’ whispered Charley, not daring to hope. Meredith had noticed it too. Anna and Abigail joined them by the window as the carriage came to a stop outside the front door. They remained at the window, tense as the driver jumped down and opened the door. Charley let out a whooping cry when she saw her father come out of the carriage with Nicky in his arms. They all rushed to the door, the doorman had already opened it and Yannick came in, smiling at them.  
Nick’s eyes were open, he looked at them in this very solemn way he had sometime. Alex immediately asked for a note to be sent to the physician to come and check him over. Nick asked for a drink. Within seconds, a cup of water was presented to his lips. Louis, who was with Laure, appeared at the top of the stairs, brought out by the noises from downstairs. He realised that things had turned up for the best and rushed back to his sister’s bedside to give her the happy news.  
Charley and Meredith gave their brother a hug, then Charley proposed some food to him. Nicky nodded and asked for cakes. A maid was despatched to the kitchen and soon came back with a choice of cream cakes and meringues, Nicky’s favourite. While he was happily munching at the sweet food, still on his father’s lap, a bath was ordered for him in the nursery.  
Yannick did not give them details about the rescue, later, he had said, when they had settled. The physician came quickly, they took Nick to the nursery where his bath was ready for him. Yannick undressed the child; Nicky had wet himself. Yannick was dreading what he could discover. Nicky let the physician examine him, he did not look as if he was in pain. The physician noticed bruises on the boy’s wrists, arms and ankles, coherent with the rope used to tie him up. Nothing else, thankfully. The two men exchanged a relieved look showing that both had feared that Paul might have abused the boy before delivering him to his client. Yannick sat him in the bath and started to wash his hair and soap his body. Nicky gave him a big smile.   
‘It’s aunty Laure’s special soap!’ He exclaimed. The nursery maid kneeled by the side of the bath:  
‘Her ladyship’s very favourite soap, she told me you liked it and that you should have it for your bath because you are a very special little boy.’  
She was rewarded by another big smile. Nick looked more awake now, the physician told Yannick that he had probably only been given a very small amount of laudanum and that it was wearying off by now. He made to leave the room. Yannick accompanied him; the maid had taken over washing Nick who did not look afraid of seeing his father go out of the room. Yannick waited outside Laure’s bedroom for the physician to finish his consultation before visiting his sister.  
He held her in his arms, reassuring her that Nick was perfectly all right and that the maid would be bringing him to her as soon as his bath was over. Alex was in the room, he told them how the rescue had gone, and how it had ended.   
‘Nick must have been terrified,’ said Laure.   
‘Actually, he was drugged, so I don’t think he realised what was happening. He is only coming around now and being more like himself again.’  
A knock at the door, and the maid entered carrying Nick dressed in his night shirt and not looking happy about this.  
‘I don’t want to go to bed, Papa, I want to stay up for the Twelves night’s cake!’  
They laughed. Laure held her arm out to him, ‘come and lay with me a while in my bed,’ she said, ‘we shall both have a little nap and then we’ll come down for dinner, and the cake. Promised.’ Nick watched her, he embraced her, kissed the damaged side of her face.   
‘The bad man is gone forever. Papa told me. I’d like to sleep here. I am a little bit tired.’ Laure hugged him tighter, ‘let’s both sleep, my little love. I’d welcome a nap too.’ She kissed him: ’Gosh, you do smell nice, angel, would you like me to give you some of my soap to go home with?’ Nick nodded vigorously. She looked at her husband and her brother, ‘if you could give us some peace and keep the visitors at bay, please?’ They agreed, Yannick tugged Nicky underneath the bedclothes and they left the room.

Downstairs, Yannick recounted the story of the rescue to the whole family assembled in the drawing room. He praised Sir William’s organisation and of course Robert’s action which had saved Nick’s life. No one was sorry to hear of Paul’s demise. Questions were asked about the colonel, what was going to happen to him? Yannick admitted that he did not know, but he trusted Sir William to do his best to take him to court. Conversation moved to other subjects, mainly to tonight’s celebrations. No guests were expected, Alex’s mother had politely declined the invitation, she had a previous engagement. William and Georgiana were spending the evening with William’s parents.  
Alex did not partake with his doubts that the colonel would be brought to justice. He had not told Yannick, but he knew of him, he knew that the man had friends in very high places. And so he worried too, knowing what Yannick had done the last time justice had not punished the guilty…Laure did not keep secrets from her husband; Alex had been curious to know how she had managed to change her brother’s mind about coming to London this Christmas; he wondered if his brother-in-law did not regret coming now. It had been a close call. Alex did not like to think of the consequences if Nicky had been harmed in any way.  
Alex suddenly realised that he was under his brother-in-law’s scrutiny. He had not even realised that the conversation had moved on. Yannick approached him and whispered, ‘don’t worry. I have thought of another way of making him pay if he escapes justice. It will be legal. I am not foolish enough to do otherwise. Sir William would immediately suspect me, and it would put Robert in a difficult position.’  
‘And it’s legal, this way you’ve thought of?’ Asked Alex with a raised eyebrow.  
‘Yes. I’ll tell you more if the trial does not succeed.’  
‘I may as well tell you; I am not optimistic.’  
‘Me neither, if I am honest. Although Sir William is highly motivated.’  
‘Have you told him or Robert about your mysterious scheme?’  
‘No. I haven’t told anyone. Besides I haven’t spoken to them since the operation as you well know. I took Nick away immediately. I will call on Sir William tomorrow.’  
‘Are you still leaving on the 12th?’  
‘Yes. And I still need to interview these two persons for the post of tutor, ’he sighed, ‘then another long dreary journey…,at least Ethan will be at the end of it.’  
‘I might be able to help you with your journey, you know.’  
This time it was Yannick who raised his eyebrow. Alex just smiled, he clapped the other man on the shoulder and left him there, pleased with himself. It was nearly time to go and get changed for the party. Yannick wondered if Colonel Harrods had maintained his for tonight. Sir William had gone back into the house, probably to interrogate the servants, and, he hoped, demand a list of the colonel’s guests too.

Abigail Leary came to ask him about the prospected tutors he was seeing in two days-time. He told her his concern about the male tutor.   
‘He is only 26 years old. I am not certain that it would be appropriate to leave him alone with Charley. She is growing up fast. Have you seen her in her party frock? She looks 16…’  
‘And she is already very beautiful. You are thinking of Heloise and Abelard?’ She teased, ‘poor man, maybe you should warn him of what he’ll risk if you offer him the job!’  
He laughed and that brought Charley’s attention to them. She approached: ‘Are you discussing my future tutor?’ she demanded.  
‘Yes, and we will not repeat what we’ve said,’ answered Yannick. ‘I am seeing them both on the 8th and I hope one will be suitable.’  
‘You’ve only got two answers? That’s not many is it.’  
‘No, well, Falmouth is a long way away for one thing, then quite a lot of male tutors don’t take girls education seriously. As for female tutors able to teach science and ancient languages…’  
‘What if you don’t find anyone? I still don’t like the idea of the boarding school in Bath. Sorry, Miss Leary I know you think highly of the school, but I don’t want to leave Rosemarkie, I love my life there.’  
‘Not even to go on a grand tour?’ Said Yannick innocently.  
‘Oh, Papa. Don’t tease me now. You know I’d leave tomorrow if you decided to go.’  
‘Well maybe not tomorrow, but next year. It would give us one year to prepare, Nicky would be older, Meredith probably still free and Ethan would have time to get organised and, ’ he turned to Miss Leary, ‘maybe you and Anna would consider joining us, and Alex, Laure and the children also, why not?’  
Charley applauded enthusiastically, ‘can you mention this to them tonight?’  
‘I can. But there is the trip to Mersac as a family to organise first. I will suggest May as a good month to go there. We would sail in either ‘Perseus’ or ‘Halcyon’. I know you are not keen on sailing, Abigail, but it would be more comfortable than a coach trip across the whole of France.’  
‘I know. I heard the roads are awful and I don’t fancy changing beds every night. At least on board a ship we would be spared that inconvenience.’  
‘I am glad you are considering it, Abigail.’  
It was time to go and change, ready for tonight’s dinner. The girls were excited because both of them were going to wear new dresses. Meredith and Max also had new clothes to show off. The four of them made of very handsome and elegant sight when they came down the stairs.  
Laure’s maid came to tell Alex that her ladyship was ready to come down and needed help to do so. Nick was also ready, the nursery maid had him dressed up for the party and he was patiently waiting until his aunt came down.

Two footmen carried Laure down in a chair. Nick walked down with Louis holding his hand: he had refused to be carried saying that he was not ill and not tired, he’d had a nap. Just as they were about to sit down for their dinner, the butler came to inform Alex that a visitor wished to be received. Alex frowned and took the card from the tray held by the butler. He drew a breath in surprise, then excused himself from the company, told them that he would not be long, the matter was not serious, and he followed the butler out of the room.  
Laure was not pleased: ‘Of all the days to call, how rude is that!’   
‘Probably couldn’t be helped, he did not look at all worried, ’replied Yannick.  
‘He looked pleased, ’piped in Charley, ‘maybe it’s a surprised gift!’  
Charley was partly right, Alex was pleased, but it was not a gift, although…  
Alex entered the morning room where Ethan stood by the window with his travelling bag near him. He beamed at him and shook his hand,  
‘What a wonderful surprise. Now, don’t think me heartless, but we were about to have dinner and if I let Ian knows that you’re here, he will probably take you to his room and, well, cook won’t be pleased if we delay dinner, you understand I hope?’   
Alex was grinning mischievously at the other man whose face was slowly turning pink. Alex grin became a laugh, he clasped Ethan on the shoulder:  
‘I tell you what, a footman will take you to a room, get changed and come down for dinner, how’s that?’  
‘Fine, Alex, thank you. I am sorry I got here so late. I only decided to come three days ago and left immediately; I travelled post but I did not take the Christmas traffic in London into account, I thought to arrive earlier this afternoon.’  
‘Don’t worry. You’re here, that’s all that matters.’  
Alex went to the door, called a footman and asked him to take the guest and his bag to the bedroom opposite his brother-in-law’s. Then he asked the butler to add one plate at the dinner table and lead the guest to the dining room when he came back down.   
He entered the dining room, smiling, Laure was the only one who was sitting down, she looked at him questioningly but all he said was: ‘Have you not started drinking yet?’ He poured himself a large glass of Port and held it up: ‘To your good health.’  
Angie looked at her father with an annoyed look on her face, ‘well, Papa, are you going to make us wait long before you tell us what this is about?’  
Alex looked at her, with a mock offended air, ‘now, Angie, what makes you think I should tell you? Am I not allowed to have secrets?’  
‘Not from me, you aren’t,’ said Laure.   
Alex just laughed and took a sip of his Port. The dining room door opened, and 2 footmen approached the table. They started to move the plates on one side of the table and rearrange the settings then one footman dressed the extra plate, glasses and cutlery he had taken out of the dresser on the free space they had created.  
‘Ah! One extra guest,’ Angie sounded disappointed, ‘I was looking forward to a dinner with family only.’  
‘So was I, now we’re going to have to watch what we’re talking about, ’sighed Max.  
Alex managed to keep his face straight, concentrating on his glass and hoping that Ethan was not going to be too long because he doubted that he could hold his mirth for very long. He did not notice Yannick’s discomfort: the unexpected guest was probably Robert and he was not feeling at ease being near the man yet. He had saved Nick’s life and he was grateful to him but was at loss of how to convey that to Robert without so much warmth that he’d think…His thoughts were interrupted when the door opened again and the butler stepped aside to let the guest enter.

Ethan was greeted by total silence for a few seconds before gasps and exclamations of joy resounded in the room. Yannick felt dizzy, unable to move although what he wanted to do most was to rush to his lover and take him in his arms. Their eyes met across the room, he felt ridiculously shy in front of this man whom he knew so well until he realised that it was not Ethan who made him shy, but his family looking on at a meeting which should have been private.  
They met halfway across the room and embraced each other. They did not kiss, embracing in public was daring enough for Ethan. Nicky did not show the slightest control, he ran to Ethan and tucked on his sleeve to demand attention. Ethan kneeled down, picked him up and hugged him: ‘And what are you doing still up at this time, little one?’ He asked.  
‘I am allowed tonight because we are going to cut the cake and see who gets the bean and the pea.’  
‘I see. And what are you hoping to find?’  
‘The bean! The pea is for the girls!’ Nick was over excited. Yannick had wondered if he would last the evening without falling asleep in an armchair, he did not any longer, the afternoon nap had had its expected beneficial effect on him.  
Ethan was offered a drink and questions fused: why was he here? When did he decide to come? Would he travel back with them? Before he started to answer, he enquired about Laure’s condition. She fell, she said, broke her arm. When? Yesterday. She changed the topic of conversation, saying that the food was ready, and they should go and sit down. She was sitting at one end of the table and Alex at the other end. Yannick was sitting on her left-hand side and Ethan next to him. She had Nicky sitting proudly on her right-hand side.  
Ethan did his best to answer the questions fired at him. He admitted that he’d come because Yannick’s letters had worried him. They had got shorter and were badly written all of a sudden without him giving any explanations. He glanced sidelong at Yannick while he talked. Yannick grimaced.   
‘I had a little accident; I did not want to worry you, ’he said sheepishly.  
‘Well, it did not work. Are you all right now?’  
‘Fine, look.’ He held out his palms, showing the new healthy pink skin to Ethan, ‘I’ll tell you later how it happened.’  
‘Hmm, you can’t keep out of trouble, can you?’  
Nick said loudly, ‘Papa is a hero. He saved children from a fire and this morning he saved me!’  
‘Really?’  
‘Yes, but it’s all right now because the bad man is dead. Robert killed him.’  
Another sidelong glance. The footmen entering the room and carrying dishes made a welcomed diversion for Yannick. The cook had done wonders, the dishes were beautifully presented, and Nicky became distracted by finding out what was offered to him to eat to his father’s relief.  
‘Don’t think you’re getting away with explanations though,’ whispered Ethan in his ear.  
‘I know. I’ll tell you everything tonight. It’s a long story and it’s not ended.’  
Meredith and Charley enquired about Ethan’s Christmas celebrations and what were the news from the manor? He replied, they told him what they visited, mentioned the parties and visiting Alex’s family, thanked him for his presents and then Charley spoke of her father’s future plan for a grand tour next year?  
That got the conversation going. Ethan agreed to come, Alex and Laure were interested and so was Anna. Anna and Abigail were sitting opposite each other, at Alex right and left. Anna showed no surprise and no hesitation, Yannick guessed that Abigail had told her of the project. Louis was the only one who wasn’t sure. He did not care much for ancient history or ruins, he said. He’d think about it. They all agreed to go to Mersac in the spring though, sailing on one of their ship.  
Ethan asked Alex how the refitting of the ‘Halcyon’ was going. ‘Slow but sure,’ he said.  
‘I haven’t been to the boat yard for a while,’ said Yannick, ‘sorry, I’ve let you do all the work.’  
‘I don’t mind. You had other things to sort out.’  
Finally, dinner was over and the table was cleared out before a footman brought the traditional Wassail bowl full of spiced and sweetened wine garnished with apples.   
Yannick found the drink too sweet but did not say anything: Laure told him that it had been prepared sweeter than usual because the children would prefer it this way. Nicky was allowed a small cup of it and a piece of apple. He was really waiting for the Twelves night cake. At last it arrived. Laure had made sure that it stayed hidden until tonight and the sight of the cake beautifully decorated with flowers and fruit made of icing sugar enthralled Nicky.   
‘It’s the most beautiful cake of them all!’ He exclaimed with his eyes and mouth wide open in wonder.  
They all laughed. Yannick could not help thinking with a shiver of how different his little boy’s evening could have turned out instead…Ethan caught his sudden change of mood, without understanding it. Laure did. She squeezed his hand gently. Ethan recalled Nicky’s words earlier and realised that tonight’s conversation was likely to be much dramatic than he had thought.

Alex cut the cake and distributed the pieces. Meredith made a show of refusing his portion, insisting that he wanted Nick’s instead because it was bigger than his and it was unfair, Nick was too small to eat such a large piece. Nick shrugged and agreed to the exchange. Ethan was amazed by the good-naturedness of the young child. He frowned though when he noticed the vivid bruising on Nick’s wrist when his shirt sleeve was pulled up by the movement of reaching for Meredith’s plate.   
He did not say anything now. They started to drink and eat the cake and Nick lifted his hand in the air in delight showing them the dried bean he had found in the cake. Meredith pretended to be disgusted with the fact that he had exchanged with him. Nick was clapping his hands happily. Abigail found the dried pea.  
They had a king and a queen. They were happy. The meal was over, they made their way to the reception room where Angie sat at the piano, her mother wouldn’t be able to play for quite a while. Alex carried Laure to the room and settled her in a comfortable sofa. Nicky sat next to her. Ethan joined them. He gently took Nick’s hand in his and looked at his wrist.  
‘That’s a nasty bruise, you’ve got there, Nicky. How did you do that?’  
Nick looked at him and showed him his other wrist: ‘I have another one there, look. And on my arms, too. There.’ He said rubbing his upper arms.  
Ethan looked at Laure and before she said anything, he shook his head despairingly, ‘I know…He ‘ll explain later tonight…I think I am going to spend all night listening to him.’  
She guffawed; ‘not all night I’m sure!’  
Ethan blushed. Alex laughed. Yannick who was speaking to Meredith at the other end of the room looked on in frustration: he had not heard what words provoked Ethan’s blush, but he could guess that it was probably some kind of inuendo or even a dirty joke. All of them had drunk more than usual and normal restraint was going out of the window. Angie and Charley were attempting to play a difficult four hands piece and were not very successful. Meredith was shaking his head in despair watching them giggle every time they made a mistake, which was often. At the end he told them to stop for the sake of his ears and got his violin out.   
He chose to play lively pieces and he really made his instrument sing. They all stopped whatever they were doing and listened. Meredith rarely played as a soloist, he preferred accompanying the piano, so this was a treat. Nick looked fascinated. His mouth and eyes were open, and he stood up watching Meredith as if he had never heard him play before. He had shown the same interest in the piano earlier. The child was definitely going to have to start lessons soon.  
Yannick came to sit next to Ethan on the sofa. It felt good to feel him near. He did not think that he would have managed to unwind if Ethan had not arrived so unexpectedly. He had left his duties and travelled by post chaise in record time to be here because he was worried about him. He was grateful beyond words. He had not realised just how much he had missed and needed Ethan.   
Laure soon showed signs of being in pain. She had battled with it throughout the dinner but with tiredness creeping in it got worse. Her physician had prescribed laudanum, but she had not taken any more today, saying that she felt too drowsy after. Ethan could not offer much else to help with the pain though, he told her to reduce the dose to a minimum, but that if she wanted to sleep at all, she needed to take it. She told him that her physician had also prescribed an arnica ointment for her knee and face bruising. He told her to use it, but carefully as it was poisonous and should not come into contact with broken skin or her mouth. She smiled; her physician had warned her also which was why she had not used it on her face in case one of the children had kissed her there.  
Ethan was still curious as how it had happened and if it was related to Nick’s bruises. Why couldn’t they tell him now? He was a bit annoyed at the mystery and he told Yannick how he felt. After exchanging a glance with Laure, Yannick decided to give him a short version of what had happened: Laure had been attacked yesterday by a man who had then kidnapped Nicky. And this morning, with the help of the constables, they had rescued Nicky and the man who had kidnapped him had been killed.  
At the end he said: ‘It’s of course more complicated than that. I want to tell you the whole story and how it came about from the very start you see, especially because it’s not really over.’  
‘But you said the man is dead, killed by a constable. It should end there surely.’  
‘It does not. It’s a very long story.’  
‘All right. To be honest I am rather tired tonight, I can wait until tomorrow now that I know the answer as to how two of my favourite people got hurt.’  
He hugged Nicky who was sitting again between Laure and himself, listening intently on Meredith who was continuing to play tunes after tunes. Laure asked to be excused, she really was tired and needed her bed now. Alex carried her upstairs. The other adults chose to follow suit and get to beds soon after. Yannick took Nicky up and delivered him to the care of his nurse maid; the four cousins and Louis chose to stay downstairs and start playing games.  
Yannick and Ethan did not speak at all that night. They fell asleep in each other’s arms almost immediately after making love.


	20. The Dowager's party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dowager Countess' schemed to reconciliate Laure with an old friend but the result is not at all what she had expected.

7th January 1819

The whole household got up late. Ethan had spent the night in Yannick’s bed, but they knew that it should not be repeated. They had to be careful because of the numerous footmen and maids in the house. Maids walked the corridors very early in the morning to rekindle the fires in the bedrooms and they could not afford the risk of being seen with each other. Last night they had pleaded exhaustion and told servants not to enter their rooms, but they could not do so every night, nor could they lock their doors: it would have been suspicious. They would have to sleep separately while living under this roof.  
Yannick went to the nursery to check on Nick and was glad to be told that the little boy had not woken up with nightmares or showed distress, he was still fast asleep. In the breakfast room they found Alex, Anna and Abigail sitting round the table, Louis was still asleep, and Laure was having breakfast in her room. The young ones had stayed up until dawn apparently. They had taken down all the Christmas decorations too and piled them outside in the garden. Plans for the day were discussed. Laure was sorry to be confined to the house, she had wanted to go to Mrs. Owen later in the day to see if she had been told about Paul’s death and also to check on how the children were faring. Yannick said he’d call. He had to go to the magistrate’s court first to find out the latest development and also to put in writing his actions of the last two days. The magistrate had insisted on it when they had parted on the previous day.  
Alex was on his way to his mother: it would not do for the dowager to find out about the previous days’ goings on from someone else, she was acquainted with Paul Harrison through the church and rumours could already be rife in the parish.

Yannick took time to talk to Ethan and tell him the whole story. They settled in the library and Ethan listened without interrupting as he always did.  
‘Poor little mite,’ he said at the end, ‘at least the man drugged him which saved him being too frightened. I shiver at the thought of what would have happened though. What’s next? Do you think they’ll manage to get this colonel to trial?’  
‘Alex does not think so. He’s met the man and he knows how well connected he is.’  
‘Maybe so, but if there is a hint of scandal attached to his name, his high-born friends will run a mile, don’t you think?’  
‘I hope so and trust me it will be more than a hint of scandal by the time I’ve finished with him.’  
Ethan looked at him surreptitiously: ‘I know how your mind works; you know. You have already thought of something.’  
‘I have. Pamphlets can ruin a man’s reputation even if they tell lies, as I am well placed to know. The common man believes the juicy scandal written about the rich and powerful. In this case, the pamphlets will tell the truth. Of course, I will not accuse the colonel of anything, just relate how a man had kidnapped and dropped a pretty very young boy at his house just before a party for a select few and that he had been handsomely paid for his trouble by the colonel.’  
Ethan laughed, ‘that should do it. The readers’ imagination will take over after. Can I come with you to Mrs. Owen’s?’  
‘With pleasure.’  
They were interrupted by the butler who came to tell Yannick that Sir William Armitage and Mr Robert Fellowes were here and asking to be received. Yannick agreed immediately; they were in the drawing room. He went on his own to welcome them:  
‘I was about to leave and call on you, gentlemen, pray sit down. Would you like refreshments?’  
The two men said they would, and a footman was despatched to bring a tray. Sir William spoke:  
‘We came to warn you of a new development. We found out yesterday that a journalist had been in Oxford street when her ladyship was attacked, and your son kidnapped. He questioned passers-by and found out your sister’s name and the likely identity of the boy from them. He called at the Lincoln’s inn yesterday to find out more before writing an article about the incident and he learnt about the other incident in Piccadilly where the child’s kidnapper had been found and killed at colonel Harrods’ house. The journalist was very pleased about the happy outcome for the child and scandalised to find out the identity of his kidnapper. Yes, I know, he should not have been told, but he was. Anyway, he has written an article and it will be published in tonight’s newspaper. I came to tell you because you might get unwanted callers. I wished to talk to his lordship too, but I understand that he is out.’  
‘He is, yes. In fact, he has gone to report the incident to his mother before she hears rumours from church, she goes to St George’s unfortunately.’  
‘That’s wise. There is another thing. We have interrogated the servants and one has given us the name of one man who was dismissed some months ago because he disagreed with the colonel’s parties. None of the servants seemed to know much except that children sometimes appeared at the parties. The colonel had them dressed up as cherubs and they were supposedly there as decoration. Unfortunately, I can’t prove any wrongdoings for the moment, but I had the house watched last night and my man, who is used to identify socialites, has been able to name one of the two friends invited. I shall visit him as I leave here and no doubt, I will get the name of the second man.’  
‘Do you think he’ll give it to you?’  
‘He will after I threaten to let the journalist have his name added to another article about the colonel’s parties involving little children.’  
Yannick looked thoughtful, ‘were you not surprised that Colonel Harrods maintained his party last night? I would have cancelled ….’  
‘No, I wasn’t, I think he wants to show that his party was an innocent entertainment and he will stick to his story that he knew nothing about Harrison’s kidnaping of the boy. He might even play the injured part, you know.’  
‘Will you be able to bring him to trial, sir?’  
‘I’ll see what I get from the servant who did not close his eyes. And of course, it will be difficult for Colonel Harrods to explain his relationship with Harrison who was identified by young Jamie and two other children as a regular child abuser in a brothel. He doesn’t know with have these witnesses.’  
Yannick nodded and smiled, ‘I can’t thank you enough for your action, Sir William, and you Robert, for saving Nick’s life. If there is anything at all that I can do to help stop these evil practices, please tell me.’  
‘Keep the children you saved safe. There might be rumours, this affair will probably be linked to our raid on the brothel, and attempts made to find out where the children are to shut them up.’  
Yannick nodded: ‘I will employ reliable guards and make sure the house is safe. I was going to visit Mrs. Owen today too.’  
‘I can suggest a couple of men to you, if you wish, ’said Robert.  
‘Please do. Two men should be enough, one at each door if I have the windows checked for safety.’  
‘Yes, it should be enough. If it’s known that the house is watched and guarded it will put off the villains. Most of them want easy jobs not some where the risk of getting caught or killed is fairly high.’  
The two men took their leave. Yannick promised to come by later to write and sign his report of the events. He was glad of this outcome, it might be inconvenient in case of callers, but it would save him money because he wouldn’t have to get pamphlets printed after all.

Now of course the whole household had to be told; how unfortunate that Alex had already departed to see his mother. He returned to the library where he had left Ethan who he knew would not have been bored there. Alex and Laure’s library put his to shame. Together they found Anna and Abigail who had been joined by Louis and he told them the news. Anna and Abigail were returning home today although Abigail had agreed to return next day to interview the candidates to the tutor position with Yannick.  
Louis offered to go to the dowager’s house and tell Alex and his mother of the latest development. Yannick made his way upstairs to warn his sister.  
Laure was unhappy at his news. She decided to wait for Alex’s return before issuing instructions to their servants. Her mother-in-law would be angry, she was sure of that: she hoped that Alex had not disclosed too much to her or she would place the blame of what had happened squarely on Laure and Yannick’s shoulders even though Paul was to blame. She reminded Yannick that he was expected to be present at the dowager’s party on the 9th, he had not been able to find a good excuse not to attend. True to her beliefs, the children were not invited, it was only adults and close friends, she had said. He had finally accepted but only because he did not want to offend Alex.

A maid came to inform Laure that her physician had arrived, so Yannick left her. He needed to go to the Lincoln’s inn to file his report before coming back for lunch and then pay a call at Mrs. Owen’s with Ethan. At Lincoln’s inn, he found himself alone with Robert for the first time since he had nearly submitted to him the other night. He felt awkward, not sure of what to say. He had thanked him for saving Nicky’s life earlier, it seemed too little to just say thank you for such a thing, but he was afraid of either offending him by offering money or raising his hopes of a closer relationship by being too forward.  
Robert eyed him with attention, just as if he was guessing what went on in his friend’s head. He moved to the table and invited him to sit down.  
‘All you have to do is give your honest account of what happened on January 6th. That’s all. You are a witness; Sir William has recorded that you were allowed to come because your son might need you once we found him.’  
Yannick nodded. He did as he was told. Robert busied himself with other documents or pretended to. Yannick ended him the sheet of paper once he’d finished. As he had already done after the report on the raid at the brothel, he had signed his name Jean-Baptiste de Courcelles. Robert thanked him, read the report and approved.  
‘I heard you had a surprised visitor on Twelves Night?’  
‘Yes. Ethan found my letters worrying even though I did not tell him much.’  
‘Maybe he can read between the lines…’  
‘More than likely. Thank you for the other night. For not …,you know…,’  
‘Pressing my advantage? I concluded that I had more to lose than to gain in the end. Will you introduce me to Ethan?’  
Yannick swallowed: ‘If you wish.’  
Robert looked at him with narrowed eyes, ‘I don’t think you do, really. I think you would be very uncomfortable, and I will not put you through this. That’s not what friends do to each other. This love of yours who seems to read you so well, does not deserve to be hurt, so I want you to promise me that you will never tell him about this ‘moment d’égarement’. Can you live with your guilt?’  
Yannick let out a breath, ‘I’ll have to. It won’t be the only thing I’ll be keeping from him.’  
‘Ah, but do you feel guilty about the other things you keep from him?’  
‘There’s only one think and, well, I don’t feel guilty about the action, just about keeping it from him. He does not know how ruthless I can be.’  
‘I should not say that, but I would have done the same, in your place. In fact, I nearly did once. You never asked me why I was not working as a Bow street runner any longer when we first met. I had been required to leave to avoid a scandalous dismissal. To try catching him out, I got friendly with a man we were suspecting of wrong doings. He was a handsome rogue and one evening he came on to me in the public house where we were having a drink. I was foolish enough to response to his advances and we went outside, just around the corner. He seemed eager for it, started to undo my pants, but when he heard customers come out of the pub, he called out, rousing them to come to his help, shouting that he was being indecently assaulted. I managed to run away, but some of the witnesses had seen my face and my state of undress. I had to admit what had happened to the magistrate. It put an end to our efforts to catch the villain. He had witnesses who could testify against me. I had to resign. I was lucky I was not prosecuted. I understood your rage after the magistrate let the murderers walk free because I had wanted to kill the man who had destroyed my career. Sir William saved me. He understood, guessed how I felt and talked me out of it. He also promised that after a few years he would take me on again. I clung to that hope and in the end the wait was not as long as I feared because my accuser got himself knifed in a brawl 6 months ago.’  
‘Thanks for telling me and for not trying to talk me out of taking my revenge; I would not have listened, and I would have resented you for trying. I never guessed you liked men when we met in Falmouth or later on in London. I hope you find the right companion one day.’  
‘I doubt it, as you can imagine I am extra careful now. Besides I don’t live the kind of life which is suitable for a long-term relationship. I am away for weeks on end, can’t say where either. Who would put up with that?’  
Yannick thought of how hard it had been to put up with just three weeks away from Ethan and he understood. He nodded: ‘Just be careful, will you. I don’t want to lose you.’  
Robert smiled and nodded and turn. They talked about lighter things then Yannick took his leave.

At the house, Alex was home. He had taken the news of the newspaper’s article better than Yannick had thought. He had found out from his mother that the rumours about Paul’s death and Anne-Laure’s accident had already spread. He had told the whole story to her and to be told that it was going to be printed did not bother him over much: an honest printed version would be better than wild rumours in his opinion.  
The servants had been ordered to speak to no one about the events, Alex and Laure trusted their staff and were fairly confident that further rumour would not come from their house. He had disagreed with his mother on one topic: she insisted on maintaining her dinner on the 9th arguing that to cancel it would cause more talks. He gave up.  
‘What kind of an evening entertainment can I expect at your mother’s?’ Asked Yannick. He had given up trying to get out of it: her ladyship would be offended, and Yannick did not want to cause problems between his sister and Alex.  
‘She had apparently invited a couple of friends who don’t travel to London often and some others. She did not tell me who. I told her about the unexpected arrival of Dr Treeve, but I am sorry to say that she does not wish to alter her table plan.’  
‘You mean that a doctor is not good enough for this particular evening. I suspect it’s titled only; she hasn’t invited Anna nor Louis, despite Louis being titled!’ Said Laure angrily.  
Alex looked embarrassed; he did not like her mother’s snobbery any more than his wife did, only she was still his mother. He held his own in front of her, she had been furious when she had found out that he had rented the Cumbria family seat to a rich merchant and bought a country house near Plymouth. She had accused him of being influenced by his wife’s family. How could he explain to her that he felt better in the company of his unconventional brother-in-law than in that of the snotty noses lords he was forced to endure at the House of Lords when he bothered to go. Lucky though that she did not know just how unconventional the brother-in-law actually was…  
Louis, Anna and Abigail had left the house by the time Yannick had returned from the Lincoln’s inn. The four adolescents were up and looking sleepy still and Nick had awoken late and seemed happy enough to look at books. Yannick and Ethan left for Mrs. Owen’s wanting to get there before the evening newspapers started to be delivered.

Mrs. Owen welcomed them warmly, she was glad to see them she said because wild rumours were circulating in the parish. Yannick told her what had happened and warned her about the newspapers. He reassured her that there was no reason to connect the children in her house with the events that led to Paul Harrison’s death, but to ensure the safety of the household, the magistrate had suggested that two doormen were employed at the house.  
Yannick was careful how he worded this, he worried that Mrs. Owen would not feel mistress of her own home with so many strangers roaming the place. In fact, she welcomed his words: she had been worried herself that the children could be at risk once it was known where they lived. Of her tenants, one of the ladies and one of the gentlemen had handed in their notice: they had understood where the children came from and wanted out.  
On the bright side, the other lady had offered to give the children cooking lessons. She had been helping Lucy Owen’s cook since the household had suddenly increased dramatically, and her offer was gratefully accepted.  
When Yannick and Ethan entered the kitchen, they found Jane and Lizzy peeling vegetables for tonight’s dinner while the cook was showing Alan how to disjoint the hens they were going to put in the pot for tonight. Marion and Emmy were sowing with Mary.  
Ethan sat at the table and talked to them. He told them his own story: how he had run away from home, joined the navy and with hard work and determination had managed to become a physician. Alan asked questions: how did he pay for his studies? Ethan told him he had a sponsor, and after hesitating and a quick look at his lover for approval, he told them that Yannick had created a trust fund for them and that there would be money available to pay for studies if they wished.  
‘First learn to read and write and think of what you want to do, he told them, you will get help, whether you want to be a physician, or a butler, or a magistrate…’  
‘What about an actress?’ asked Marion.  
Ethan smiled, ‘an actress, yes, why not, will you send us invitations for your first night on stage?’  
Marion nodded and gave him a smile. Yannick realised that it was the first time he had seen her do so. The children were in good hands. Yannick was certain of it; they would come through.  
Only Jamie wasn’t doing anything. The child was just sitting and watching, listlessly. Ethan went to talk to him, he wanted to examine him, but Mrs. Owen warned him that he reacted badly to being handled.  
‘I’m afraid it would be even worse from a man, sir, if you understand what I mean,’ she said. Unfortunately, he understood, only too well.  
‘Mr. de Courcelles told me that he might have been given laudanum frequently as well as alcohol to make him ‘cooperate’. I wonder if that’s not what the problem is: sudden withdrawal of laudanum is not advisable.’  
‘Are you suggesting that we give him some?’  
‘No, it’s been several days now, he is probably over the worst. I don’t like the idea of re-introducing something I’d like stopped altogether eventually. Get him to drink lots of boiled water. I don’t know why it is but is seems that people who drink thoroughly boiled water don’t fall ill as much as others. He can also have small beer. Does he eat well?’  
‘Very little, but he does eat. He has nightmares.’  
‘That’s expected. Not much we can do about them.’  
‘Mary sleeps by his bedside and comfort him every time.’  
Yannick smiled. Mary would have done such a wonderful mother. Jamie looked at him and held his arms to him and Yannick went to give him a hug. He held the child for a long time, afraid of his own feelings. He had wanted to take him and Lizzy home at the beginning. He had told Laure and she had strongly advised him against it. He couldn’t just take Jamie and Lizzy, she said, it would be unfair on the other children who would feel unworthy to be left behind. He had spoken to Ethan about it too and found that Ethan had agreed with Laure. Furthermore, he was concerned that Nick might not understand why his father was bringing other children to the house. Nick was only just coming to term with not following him everywhere and being frightened of being on his own, said Ethan who expected the child to feel a backlash after his kidnapping at some time.  
‘You’ll need to be there for your child when he needs you, you cannot complicate matters now. These children you saved are in a good home, well cared for and you are offering them a future. Mary will give them love also. You must walk away.’  
As Yannick detached himself gently from Jamie’s embrace, Lizzy and Jane came to him. Lizzy looked at Yannick with a very grown up expression of understanding: ‘Come on Jamie, time you learnt new skills like peeling potatoes,’ she said, putting her arm around the boy and pulling him off, ‘must work for your supper like the rest of us you know!’  
‘Well said, young ladies, show him the way.’ He smiled and got up, avoiding looking at them in the eyes, knowing that his own were much too bright.  
By the time they got back to the house, the evening newspaper had been delivered and Alex and Laure had already read the article. They praised the journalist who had apparently done a good job of describing the awful events of the last two days. Anne-Laure’s name was mentioned as well as Paul’s and the colonel’s, but not Nicky’s. It only said that the child had been her ladyship’s nephew. The journalist did wonder why this particular child had been targeted though, her ladyship was well known to Paul Harrison so why take the risk of being recognised by picking her nephew?  
Yannick read the article and screwed his face: ‘He is too clever, this one. It won’t take him long to find out about the brothel raid and connect it to us.’  
‘By that time, you’ll be gone. Sir William does not need you to convict the brothel keepers, does he?’  
‘No. He said the children’s testimonies are enough. My name should not be mentioned.’  
‘In that case the connection should not be made, and you have nothing to worry about,’ replied Alex, ‘after all the only one who could have made the connection was Harrison and he is dead.’  
Yannick admired his brother-in-law’s coolness in the matter especially as he was the one who was going to have to answer questions from friends and relatives once they had read the article.  
Nobody bothered them tonight, they were allowed a quiet evening at last. Yannick made a list of questions to ask the two candidates for the tutoring post, he made the mistake of asking Charley’s opinion and had to stop her when he realised that no one could possibly reach his daughter’s demands…

8th January 1819

Miss Leary arrived early. She too had made a list of requirements. Ethan laughed at them as they compared the two lists and said he felt sorry for the poor postulants.  
As it worked out, the interview with the first candidate, the man, did not last long. He was, as Yannick had suspected, not only too young for the post, but also too attractive for his liking. Yannick could have overtaken this earlier prejudice against the man if he had been up to the post, unfortunately, he wasn’t. He was sure of himself until Abigail gave him a text in Greek to translate. He struggled with it. Yannick and she had agreed to small gestures to communicate their likes or dislikes and after a quick glance to her former employer, she told the candidate that Miss de Courcelles could do this translation easily already so if he could not then he would not be of any use to her.  
The man took his leave. They had to wait until after lunch for the next (and last) candidate to arrive. They expected a woman aged 38 according to her letter. She had never taught before, she was living with her family, but now wished to be independent. That explained her lack of references. Neither Abigail nor Yannick held much hope unfortunately.  
Miss Evans was not 38. Yannick sighed deeply when he saw her: she had lied, he did not take it well and demanded an immediate explanation. His tone of voice would have made any one of his sailors shrink in fear a few years ago. Miss Evans held her head high. She replied:  
‘I lied because you would not have received me if I’d said that I was 23. I have all the competences you require for the position despite my age and the colour of my skin.’  
‘Very well. We shall see if you really have the competences we demand for Charlotte. If you do, I shall offer the position to you. The colour of your skin, by the way, is totally irrelevant.’  
Abigail held the same Greek text to her. The author was Aristotle and the text particularly difficult both to understand and to translate correctly. Miss Evans read it several times then surprised them with an excellent translation. Abigail nodded with appreciation. She held gave her a text in Latin next. This time it was a poem from Virgil, not the easiest one to understand yet again. Miss Evans took longer to translate it, but she got it right.  
‘You certainly are competent in both Greek and Latin,’ said Abigail, ‘what about science, mathematics, have you studied them too?’  
‘I have. I love mathematics. More than Greek and Latin even. I only started to teach myself Greek in the first place to be able to read text in Greek about Hypathia of Alexandria, Ptolemy and Aristotle. I am passionately interested in astronomy. If you wish to test my knowledge, please do.’  
‘You are very young, what does your family thinks of you taking up a position so far from London?’  
‘I live with my uncle and aunt and they will be pleased to see me settled far from them, I think. My father was the head of the family and while he was alive, I was cherished. He died two years ago and left me in the care of his brother who is giving me a home according to his brother’s wishes. My father has left me enough money in his will to be independent and very comfortable. I do not need to work, sir, I want to.’  
‘You have lost your mother too I presume?’  
‘Yes. I hardly remember her. I was 4 years old when she died. She was from Jamaica. My father adored her; their marriage created a scandal in the family. He only returned to England after she died.’  
‘Do you have any questions for me?’  
‘Is Miss Charlotte your only child?’  
‘No. I have an adopted son who is 16 years old and a younger son who is 5. Charlotte’s mother and I are divorced, and Nick is the son of my mistress. Do I shock you, Miss Evans?’  
Miss Evans looked at Abigail: ‘I thought you were Miss Charlotte’s mother.’  
‘I was her tutor for 2 years. I gave my notice because my life has taken another path, but,’ and she smiled at Yannick, ‘I will now endeavour to do my best in the other career I have chosen.’  
‘Would you like to meet Charlotte?’  
‘I’d love to.’  
Yannick rang the bell and told the footman that his daughter was requested in the room. Charley was there almost instantaneously. Yannick suspected that she’d had been listening in behind the door of the room. Yannick and Abigail got up and told the two young ladies that they were leaving them alone to get acquainted. Refreshments, he said would be sent.  
Ethan joined them in the morning room. Yannick liked the girl, ‘she was right to lie about her age,’ he said to Ethan, ‘I would have dismissed her application. Abigail, you were impressed by her translations were you not?’  
‘Very much. She had a rare insight of what the authors had meant and managed to translate it better than I would have done. She is an exceptionally bright young woman and I hope she takes the position, that’s if you offer it to her of course.’  
‘You know I will, if Charley likes her.’  
‘I am not worried.’  
They welcomed a cup of tea too and the conversation drifted to the wine and brandy business. Abigail was totally involved now with Anna. The two women did not spare their efforts to contact potential buyers of the wine. “Perseus” was expected back with a full cargo next month and would unload in London in a new warehouse that they had started to rent. Staff were being recruited to work both at the warehouse and their office and Abigail said that she understood that “Halcyon” would be ready to sail soon also.  
They talked for a very long time and so did Charley and Miss Evans apparently. Eventually, the door opened, and Charley entered with a smile on her face,  
‘Miss Evans has agreed to take me on,’ she said, ‘she can be ready to leave with us on the 12th, isn’t it great?’  
Ethan and Abigail laughed at Yannick’s expression. He shook his head helplessly.  
‘I better go and talk wages and conditions of employment to her,’ he said, ‘unless you have already done this also?’ He asked ironically to Charley.  
‘Oh no, I’ve left the boring matters to you, dear Papa.’ She granted him with a smile and a kiss before running off to talk to Meredith.  
Miss Evans was offered the same conditions than he had offered Abigail. The young lady was very happy with these, very happy to go to Cornwall, she said, she had never travelled far from London, only to Norfolk where her family had a country house. They agreed to meet again on the 11th in the afternoon. She would bring her bags to the house and spend the night in Grosvenor square to be ready to leave early in the morning of the 12th.  
Miss Evans had been told about the incident involving Nicky and that it shouldn’t affect her future employment in Cornwall because her employer’s name was not mentioned.  
As the day progressed, callers started to come to the door of the Grosvenor Square House, leaving visiting cards with kind words or issuing either requests or invitations to visit following the newspaper article on the previous day. Several bouquets of flowers were also delivered for Laure from well-wishing friends as well as small toys for Nicky. Laure was resting in the drawing room; the butler handed her the cards as they arrived. She systematically refused visits pleading her need for rest. She was touched by the flowery gifts and nice words. She showed the pile to Yannick and Ethan when they walked in to tell her about Miss Evans.  
‘I had far more friends than I ever knew!’ she exclaimed ironically, ‘it’s just as well that I know how to differentiate the genuine ones from the rest.’  
Indeed, she had two piles of visiting cards in front of her.  
‘Tell me about this Miss Evans, please, I understand you have decided to take her on.’  
Yannick recounted the interviews that they had conducted with the girl. He let her know of his misgivings concerning her very young age, but Laure brushed these off quickly:  
‘I think it’s an advantage, she will understand Charley better and they could become friends. Meredith has been Charley’s confident up to now, but it’s good that she can have a girl to confide in too. She is growing up fast as I am sure you have noticed and she needs to talk about girls matters, and she can’t do that with Meredith. Abigail told me that she is a metis, will it shock people back in Cornwall to see a black girl tutoring the lady of the house?’  
‘There will be some who will be surprised no doubt, but only because she is educated and of gentle birth; metis and black people are not uncommon in seaports. The navy had many black sailors native of the Caribbean islands or pressed from merchant ships. Of course, her status will be higher than the servants at the manor, they will get used to her, she will hold her rank well, her father was a rich tradesman and a landed gentleman and she was used to being served.’  
‘She is also spirited and independent I learnt. No wonder Charley immediately liked her. She is leaving with you I hear.’  
Yannick made a grimace: ‘Yes. You know when I found out that Mary was staying in London, as well as Abigail, I thought, at least we shall have a more comfortable journey back home. Only it won’t be, will it? Ethan will take Mary’s place in the coach and now Miss Evans will take Abigail’s! I am cursed to spend another 5 days cooped up in a coach with Nick wriggling on my knees all day long asking, ‘are we home soon’ every hour or so.’  
Ethan took on a martyr-like expression: ‘I’ll travel outside, if it can make you happy, maybe poor old John will also wish to as well.’  
‘Now, you are being silly,’ huffed Yannick.  
Laure and Ethan laughed at him.

9th January 1819

It was the day of the dowager countess’s party. Yannick was not looking forward to it at all. He had not managed to find out who the other guests were from Alex because Alex had not been told. William and Georgiana would attend which was good news. Of course, the children were not invited. Yannick envied them, they had an evening planned with Ethan and Louis for company. The other thing that irked him was that Alex had warned him that his mother would introduce him as the Comte de Térouanne. Since King Louis had regained his throne, she was making a big thing about her daughter-in-law being the daughter of the Duke of Térouanne, who belonged to the king’s close circle.  
‘Why could she not content herself with Mr. de Courcelles,’ grumbled Yannick unhappily ‘I don’t like using the name and title of Térouanne. I thought I made it clear last time we spoke.’  
‘Her friends are probably as fond of titles as she is.’  
‘Pity her friends do not know I inherited the title of Comte de Mersac, she might have withdrawn the invitation!’  
‘Now, now, come on,’ chastised Laure, ‘you would not abandon us surely?’  
‘You are used to society dinners, I am not.’  
Laure laughed at him, ‘stop it, you never know you might end up enjoying yourself if you stop sulking like a child.’  
He pretended to be offended. She could be right of course; the dowager’s guests could be very pleasant people indeed. Or not.  
Visitors continued to try to be admitted at the house. Laure and Alex politely declined to receive them although they made an exception for the vicar of St George’s. The elderly man was deeply upset by the events: Paul’s crimes had horrified him and of course he had lost his curate, a man who did most of the work in the parish. The charity society was also in disarray without Paul or Anne-Laure there to organise matters. Laure commiserated with him within reason: she knew he had paid Paul very little for his hard work and had lain back giving him increasing responsibilities while he did nothing all day despite receiving a generous stipend. Laure reminded the vicar that she would not take such an active part in the charity society either in the future. She had other interests too now and also would be spending most of the year away from London from now.  
The vicar left the house in a worst disposition than he had been when he came in.  
Another visitor was Robert. They had found the servant who had been dismissed from Colonel Harrods’ house and he was talking. A lot. Robert was pleased to say that a trial would be held which would result with the Colonel being convicted, he was sure of it. He did not give them any details of what the man had revealed for the moment, but he promised to tell when some of his words as well as the facts had been verified. They understood; it was all good news.

Anne-Laure’s face still bore the marks of the attack, but because it was only due to unusual colours, her maid did wonder with make-up to hide it. Her knee was not so painful now and she could walk unaided. Her arm was still incapacitated and would be for quite a long time yet. She was managing really well with only one arm though. A footman cut her food for her before serving her plate and Alex was never very far from her side. He had remained at the house more or less all the time since the attack to look after her.  
All three had dressed in their best clothes to honour the Dowager’s invitation. They made quite a show, Anne-Laure in a beautiful pale pink gown, her shoulders covered by a silk embroidered shawl and wearing Alex’s family tiara, a gift from the lady dowager, in her golden hair. Around her neck, she was wearing the lovely emeralds necklace, Yannick had gifted her at Christmas. Alex and Yannick wore fashionable black coat with embroidered cream waistcoat, elaborately knotted cravat, white breeches and silk stockings. Yannick gave up his boots for tonight in exchange for black evening shoes. Both men, one blond and one dark cut fine figures in the reception hall, with Laure standing between them.  
The Dowager had insisted that they’d come early to be present to welcome her guests. Sir William and Lady Georgiana were also present, standing on the other side of the Dowager.  
The first couple was unknow to Yannick: he had never heard their names before, Sir Henry Harley and Lady Isobel. They were in their fifties or sixties, as to be expected from friends of the Dowager Countess. He had never met the next guests, but he knew their names and it sent a warning shiver down his spine: Admiral Lord Asquith and Lady Asquith. He waited anxiously after their arrival, expecting that maybe their son Ashley would be invited also, or worse still, Julia. Apparently not. He was relieved when he heard the Dowager enquiring about Asquith’s sons to be told that they had returned to their country seats after Twelves Night.

Just as he was starting to breathe more easily, the butler announced Lord and Lady Alconbury. He closed his eyes, willing to wake up and find himself in another place or another time. He heard a sharp breath intake from Laure standing next to him which told him that unfortunately he was awake, and it was not a bad dream and he had heard the names correctly. He forced himself to look at the man standing in front of him now, he took in his hard eyes, his sharp features, his arrogance as he bowed to Yannick after he had been presented.  
Then she too was standing in front of him. It had been six years since they’d last met. Since that morning when she had plunged sharp scissors in his throat narrowly missing the artery. Gone was the shapely figure he remembered holding tenderly in his arms, she was painfully thin now. She was clutching her shawl tightly around her as if she was frozen. And he read fear in her eyes as she looked at him. He bowed, unsmiling. She curtsied, to him then to Laure first then to Alex. The Dowager welcomed her warmly: it had been far too long, since their last meeting she said, she had been missed.  
Laure knew that this last remark was intended as a reproach to her. Laure had stopped calling to or visiting Lady Alconbury after she had heard her brother’s version of the rape story and his rescue of Nicky. Laure had found herself in the presence of Alexis at several occasions in public and had carefully avoided her. Alexis had noticed the change of attitude of course, without understanding it. She had been hurt especially because she liked Laure very much.  
Alexis had done her best to convince her husband that she was unwell and preferred not to attend tonight’s party, but he had insisted: no one in London refused the Dowager Countess Durfield’s invitation. Alexis’s fear had been that Laure was going to snub her again tonight and that in such a small company, others would notice.  
She now realised that it was the least of her worries; so, he was her brother, that explained the snub: he must have told his sister of their love affair, she must be angry about the slur on his reputation. He must be angry too and rightfully so. She was offered a glass of wine and swallowed with difficulties: this must be what villains waiting for their sentences must feel like, she thought.  
She became aware through her cloudy mind that Georgiana was speaking to her, she smiled at the young woman, a well-practiced meaningless exercise: she had no idea what Georgiana had said.

Alexis and her husband had been the last of the expected guests to turn up. Yannick counted idly that the company numbered twelve for dinner. He suddenly dreaded the seating plan. The painful knot he had in his stomach since this morning was getting worse. He had to get over this, for Alex’s sake. Kind, generous Alex, his friend and business partner, did not deserve his brother-in-law making a scandal at his mother’s table.  
The Dowager sat at the end of the table with Lord Asquith on her right and Lord Alconbury on her left. Alex sat at the other end with his wife on his right and Lady Asquith on his left. Yannick found himself at the middle of the table with Alexis sitting to his right. He felt her trembling as he was taking his seat and could not help himself whispering coldly to her ear only:  
‘No need to look so frightened, my lady; not unless you’ve come to believe your own lies.’  
He then turned his attention to Lady Isobel on his left side. She was about sixty, dressed like a much younger woman, but with a warm smile as she looked at him. He said a few words of compliment to her which got her to smile even more, flattered and entranced by his good looks. He ignored Alexis who was answering to Lady Asquith on her right.  
The dinner got under way. Conversations ranged diversely from fashion, to concerts and Christmas celebrations, and of course the weather. Yannick was surprised and pleased that the newspaper article and Laure’s aggression were not mentioned. Everyone had enquired about her health, of course, but they had stayed clear of the circumstances leading to her broken arm. It did not last all the way to the end of the dinner though. As glasses were being freely refilled all through dinner, tongues started to be less guarded, laughs less discreet.  
Sir Henry, sitting opposite Yannick remarked loudly:  
‘Awful business about the curate of St George’s. Find it hard to believe that Colonel Harrods could be involved though, good friend of mine, you know.’  
William said cautiously: ‘If Colonel Harrods is innocent then he has nothing to fear, has he?’  
‘Ah, but I was at church this morning and gossips had already reached my own parish. It does not take long or much to destroy a good man’s name, you know.’  
Yannick took a long sip of wine, concentrating on its colour and smell. It was his own, he realised. He felt Laure’s eyes on him but he did not return her gaze. Lady Asquith addressed Laure:  
‘It must have been a dreadful experience for you my dear; and for the child of course. How is he? He’s a boy I believe?’  
‘He is fine, thank you, he was very frightened of course, but Paul Harrison gave him drops of laudanum to keep him quiet so thankfully he was dozy most of the time. He is recovering well.’  
‘Even so, it must have been dreadful for you all. What a night it must have been, not knowing if he would be safe.’  
‘We trusted Sir William Armitage to find him and return him safely. But it was a difficult time, yes.’  
Lady Isobel on Yannick’s left, asked:  
‘The article said that the child was a relation of yours, Lady Anne-Laure, it said he was probably your nephew, is that so?’ Lady Isobel looked at William and Georgiana, ‘he was not one of your children, was he?’  
William and Georgiana answered that he was not, well aware that it put Laure and Yannick in an awkward situation. Laure waited for a few moments, unsure of what to answer. The article had reported that it was believed that the child was her nephew, but the journalist did not know for sure. They had agreed to tell the truth if questions were asked, but that had been before the shock of Alexis’ presence tonight. Yannick who guessed where this conversation was going and that it would not end quickly answered in her place. He had no reason to lie or to spare Alexis either:  
‘The child is mine, my lady. He is my 5 year-old son, Nicholas.’ He heard her sudden breath intake, felt her freeze. He did not look at her husband who was on the opposite side of the table as he continued speaking, ‘Nicky is a very resilient boy, he had a difficult start in life, his mother abandoned him to be reared in a slum at “The Sanctuary”. I don’t expect you to know of it, it’s a terrible place. As Laure said, he was sedated by his kidnapper and does not look the worst for his adventure,’ he looked at her husband who had been about to defend the colonel: ‘I believe that Colonel Harrods is guilty, Sir, and I hope he will soon face a judge and be punished for his wrongdoings.’  
‘Sir William Armitage is a good man. He will get to the truth in this matter, I am sure,’ said William. ‘Any crime which involve children should be most severely sanctioned, do you not agree, sir.’  
‘Of course, I do, but only if proven. Colonel Harrods has a remarkable war record, he is a war hero, for God’s sake!’  
Alex intervened: ‘Nelson was a hero, sir, but it did not stop him treating his devoted wife in the most atrocious fashion.’  
The colonel’s friend was not deterred in the least: ‘I mean, what would he do with such a young boy anyway?’

Yannick wondered if Sir Henry really had no idea of the perversity some men were capable of or if he was just pretending. He thought of Jamie and Alan, and of all the other children who had fallen prey to men like Paul and the colonel, then he thought that perhaps this gentleman knew nothing of the harsh world out there, away from his comfortable, privileged sphere. He did not answer. No one else did, although a distinct malaise could be sensed in the room.  
The meal was nearly over, Georgiana praised her mother’s desserts which had just been brought in by the footmen, her mother’s cook had excelled herself yet again, she said, trying to stir the company towards a lighter conversation. She was successful, soon though, ladies would withdraw as was the English custom that Yannick disliked, and he hoped that Sir Henry Harley would not start again on the subject of Nick’s abduction when the ladies were gone. He was also a little worried about Lord Alconbury who had not expressed his opinions yet. He had seen the man look at him thoughtfully several times and he did not like it. He had also seen the fearful look that Alexis had given her husband as the ladies had retired and he realised that she was more terrified of this man than she had been of himself earlier.  
The men had moved nearer Alex at the top of the table. Lord Alconbury was still sitting opposite Yannick, with Sir Henry and William. Lord Asquith had moved to Yannick’s left. Port was served, Sir Henry took his cigar box out and offered them around. Only Lord Alconbury accepted. The two gentlemen soon concentrated on lighting their cigars and Yannick caught a frown of distaste on Lord Asquith’s face as smoke started to envelop them all.  
‘I hope we did not distress you with our questions about your son, sir, I guess that you are very protective of the child. Am I right?’ Asked Lord Asquith.  
Yannick smiled: ‘Yes, I suppose I am. He is such a little dear. I was just as doting with my daughter, you know. I fear she rules me totally now.’  
‘How old is she, may I ask?’  
‘Thirteen, looking sixteen though. I will soon have to fend unwanted suitors off I’m afraid.’  
Alex and William unexpectedly laughed at the same time, Alex said:  
‘She will do her own fending off, don’t you worry. Furthermore, she will not take a fool either, I think you are going to keep her in your house for quite a number of years yet.’  
Yannick took on a pretend despairing expression and laughed with them. He enquired about Lord Asquith’s children. His lordship readily talked about his elder son, Nicholas, who had nothing but qualities and with a distinctly more subdued tone about Ashley with whom he frequently fell out.  
‘You have met Ashley, I believe, my lord,’ he said to Alex, ‘he served in the navy at the same time than you did.’  
‘I have, yes,’ replied Alex cautiously, ‘I had to leave the navy after my father died, unfortunately,’ he looked at Yannick sheepishly, ‘prey don’t tell your sister I said that, she was overjoyed when I resigned.’  
‘Ah, women! Ashley resigned because he married Lady Evelyn. Not a great loss for the navy, though, I must say.’  
Yannick stifled a grin. He had heard from several sources how incompetent a captain Ashley was. He was finding Lord Asquith more and more sympathetic as the evening went on, he understood why his friend Lord Trewin valued the man.  
‘Your wife did not accompany you tonight, Comte?’ said Lord Alconbury abruptly.  
‘I no longer have a wife, my lord. We are divorced.’  
Sir Henry looked at him in surprise: ‘Good Lord, and her ladyship invited you, nonetheless? She is such a sticker for conventions.’  
‘So I heard. It’s a wonder isn’t it?’ He looked at Alex. ‘Have you told her?’  
Alex let out a big sigh. ‘It may have slipped my mind…there again, she never asked.’  
William and Yannick laughed. The dowager would be told now, Alex shrugged his shoulders, meaning: so, what, nothing she could do about it now. Lord Alconbury was not even smiling. He kept the same arrogant and cold expression he’d had from the start of the evening. Alex realised that he had never noticed before how unpleasant the man was. He compared him with Yannick, and he could not help wondering why Alexis had chosen to stay with her husband. The weight of conventions and family he supposed. Yannick was thinking exactly along the same lines. They talked of other things; hunting was a subject in which Lord Alconbury took part. He was joined by Sir Henry and Alex who enjoyed the sport also. Lord Asquith asked Yannick when he was going back to France.  
‘Not before May. We are planning a visit with Laure, Alex and their children. We’ll probably stay a few weeks there before returning to England.’  
‘Only a few weeks? You do not live there permanently?’  
‘No. I live in Cornwall.’  
‘Oh. I thought you would have wanted to return to your home after the war. Your father did, I heard.’  
‘Home is in Cornwall for me.’  
‘I have an excellent friend in Falmouth, Admiral Lord Trewin, have you met him?’  
‘I have and I like him very much. Do you ever visit him?’  
‘Not as often as I wish. I live in Devon, you know, it’s not that far but my old bones don’t like travelling much. I dread the journey back as it is.’  
Yannick laughed: ‘I do to. We are leaving on the 12th.’  
‘Well, isn’t that a coincidence, so are we! I hope we meet in Posting houses on the way, at least the evenings won’t be so boorish if you and your family are there too.’  
Lord Asquith did not notice Yannick’s slight crispation at his words. Charley was known to the Asquith, if they met then they’d know. He repressed a sigh: nearly four weeks in London without meeting anyone who could have revealed his identity and now, right at the end of the stay, problems were piling on…  
While the gentlemen drank their Port and probably smoked, Alexis had wanted to sit on her own to ponder on the information she had received tonight: she thought that her husband was probably not aware that her son had been christened Nicholas. It could not be a coincidence, the child had to be hers. Her brother was going to have some explaining to do: he had told her that the child had died when he was two. She had been mourning him for the last two years.  
Unfortunately for her, the dowager had other ideas. Her ladyship had remained unusually quiet during her evening, listening to her guest’s conversation without taking a forceful part in the talks, now though she directed Alexis to the sofa where Anne-Laure was already sitting and led her to sit next to her daughter-in-law.  
‘There, my dear, you two young ladies must have a lot to talk about in peace, you don’t have to remain with us more mature ladies.’  
Laure watched her quizzically, Georgiana, who was younger than she was, could certainly not be counted as a mature lady like Lady Isobel. It was a plot to get her to talk to Alexis, she was certain of it. Before she had time to say anything, Alexis spoke first:  
‘I know why you hate me. I’ve understood the reason tonight. I will not attempt to justify myself to you, I would just like you to have pity on me if you can, and please tell me truthfully if Nicholas is or not my child?’  
‘I don’t hate you; I was wrong to snub you; I transferred my own shame and anger at you. You see, in 1814, when I found out who my brother was, I refused to have any contact with him because of what I thought he did to you. I did not want to even listen to his side of the story. I have my young brother, Louis, to thank for opening my eyes, Louis forced me to listen, but not before 1816. I met Ian again in July 1816, just after he had rescued Nicky from “The sanctuary” where your brother had sent him to be reared. It’s from that time that I refused to talk to you any longer. I never took time to ponder what I would have done in your place and the truth is that I don’t know. Nicky is still a somewhat delicate child. He has a lovely face, honey-gold curls like yours and his father’s eyes. He is a quiet child, most of the time. He has a limp, I’m afraid, legacy of his two years in that dreadful place. I believe that it was lucky that Mary had cared for him for his first six months, it gave him a chance to survive.’  
Alexis looked stunned: ‘You’ve heard from Mary?’  
‘I know her well. Ian found her after paying an investigator to find out why such slander against him had come about. He found Nicky thanks to her, she revealed that Sir Sidney had taken charge of the boy. She lived in Cornwall with him up to this month, she has now chosen to remain in London and work for a children’s charity Ian and I sponsor.’  
Alexis looked away dreamily. From the start Mary had played a big part in her story. She had missed her after her husband had ordered her dismissal after 15 years of good service. Mary knew more about her than any other person. She had warned her from the start of the danger of falling for the charismatic and handsome French Admiral. She had not listened; she had let herself be swept off her feet by the man.  
‘I did not know I was with child when I sent him away. I thought I was barren. Four years into marriage and not a single sign of pregnancy; he blamed me. That is why he is so bitter, you know, he thinks it only took one act from another man to…,’ unexpectedly, she laughed.  
Bitter or ironic laugh, Anne-Laure wasn’t sure.

‘I chose duty, family, conventions over a wildlife with an enemy of my country. I loved him, but would it last?’ She smiled wearily, ‘I had doubts, second thoughts; I thought I might end up resenting him for taking me away from the people I loved. Of course, I know now that it would have been different. I would have had our son living with us. He would have been worth every other sacrifice.’  
Laure was silent for a long time. What could she tell this woman who was telling her of the mistake which she thought had destroyed her life? Then again, how would she have reacted when the slanders about Yannick’s inclinations for men have come out? And would Yannick have remained faithful to her? Would he have resisted Hadrian in Kediri? Would he have resisted Ethan? Or any other man for that matter? She did not like to dwell on it. She was still uncomfortable with her brother’s private life.  
‘I don’t understand why you stay with your husband. Your father is still alive, is he not? Would he shut his door to you if you wished to separate? You are not in need of money, are you?’  
‘I am afraid of my husband. He would convince at least Sidney to come with him and entice me back. Sidney is to marry soon, you know, he does not want a scandal.’  
‘Your brother, probably with the complicity of your husband abandoned your son at “The Sanctuary” in the care of a woman who was drunk half of the time. She did not even realise that Nicky had broken his leg! Did you know that your brother had agreed to pay for 6 years of care only and that the woman’s husband sold pretty children, like your son, to brothels if they survived their 6th year?’ She stopped for a few minutes after seeing the awful look on Alexis’ face, worried that the other woman might faint, ‘what is past is past, Alexis; no point in dwelling on it, but use this knowledge to build your future and if you want a chance at happiness then you should leave your husband as soon as you can.’  
Alexis nodded thoughtfully at Laure. They were friends once, maybe they could be again. If she did the right thing.  
When the gentlemen eventually joined the ladies in the reception room, the dowager had a few games tables set up for her guests. Lady Asquith sat at the piano to play and sing while her husband turned the partition pages for her. Lord Alconbury liked card games, he joined a table with William, Sir Henry and the dowager. Yannick and Alex joined the ladies. Alconbury could not keep his displeasure hidden. From his place at the games table he kept eying the two other men with distrust. The evening had at the same time bored him and annoyed him.  
Lady Asquith started, surprisingly, to play a waltz. Laure looked at her brother and said:  
‘A pity I can’t dance with my wobbly knee, why don’t you take Lady Alconbury for a turn?’  
She said it with an innocent smile on her face, wondering mischievously who of Yannick, Alexis or Alex would be the most stunned.  
He bowed graciously and held his hand to her. She curtsied and accepted, feeling unsteady on her feet. As they started to dance and turn, Alexis saw the anger on her husband’s face. It annoyed her: why should she refuse to dance, she loved it and he never danced. She felt happier than she had done for a long time. She felt the yoke releasing itself, Laure was right, she could make a better future for herself. Not with the man dancing with her now. He was no longer in love with her, that much was plain to see, but maybe, just maybe, if she did the right thing, then he would start forgiving her and she could start forgiving herself too and in time be totally free of guilt.  
‘Your husband is not pleased.’  
‘He will be even less so later,’ she gave him a brilliant smile.  
‘Alexis, we can’t go back in time. I am no longer in love with you.’  
‘I know. We were not meant to be together. Too many obstacles. It does not mean that I can’t make amend for the wrong done to you.’  
‘You can’t. The price is too high for you. Now that I have met him, I know that he would never forgive you and probably has the means to make your future life a misery.’  
‘Not that much. My father is richer than he is, I believe I can weather the storm. And I need revenge on my brother. He promised me that the baby would be brought up in the country, that he would be well cared for. Then he told me that he had died of fever. I mourned my child, our child, for these last two years, and tonight I find out that it was all a lie and more than likely made up in connivance with my husband. I am angrier than you can fathom.’  
‘I know about anger. I understand.’  
‘Good.’ Another smile, he responded in kind.  
Laure and Alex watched with interest. Alex glanced at his wife: ‘Have you been talking with Alexis?’  
‘I have, the evening is going to progress interestingly soon, I think.’  
‘Alconbury is not pleased. He has stopped playing cards. I hope he does not interfere before the end of the dance.’  
Laure shrugged her shoulders: ‘In so small a gathering it would look really bad and offend your mother. He won’t risk that.’  
Laure was right, Alconbury did not interfere during the dance, but as soon as it was over though he excused himself briefly to his three partners and walked over to his wife who was walking back toward Laure and Alex with her hand resting lightly on Yannick’s arm. She ignored her husband and stood facing Laure:  
‘My lady, you will be pleased to know that your brother is talking to me despite the anguish that my silence has caused him in the past. I have not asked him to forgive me for not disclaiming the false accusations he was a victim of, I do not deserve his forgiveness. He never showed me anything other than respect and love and I repaid him appallingly, first in Kamorta when I stabbed him, and after when my husband arrived, and the first rumour of rape was whispered. I did not deny it because I was with child and it provided a convenient explanation.’ She stopped because of the exclamations of surprise and shock from the other guests, she did not spare a glance for her husband as she continued: ‘I was afraid of the consequences on my marriage and my family and I continued to keep silence after the rumour reached England. My cowardice and selfishness to save my reputation caused the ruin a man’s good name. I speak now because I have found out tonight that my brother, who is nothing but my husband’s lackey, had condemned my child to be brought up in a slum instead of in a decent country farm as he had promised.’ She looked at her shocked husband in the eyes, ‘I was never raped, my Lord, I was Admiral Mersac’s mistress for several weeks and he always was a respectful and kind lover. As you know, he fathered my child, so it’s not my fault if you do not have an heir.’  
Yannick moved quickly to prevent Alconbury from hitting his wife. His hand catching the other man’s wrist.  
‘Let go of me, you bastard. I will kill the slut first and you next.’  
‘How dare you talk this way in my house. Get out.’ The imperative voice came from the dowager to everyone’s surprise. They remained frozen in time. Yannick let go of Alconbury’s wrist. The man stepped back. He was still furious but looked unsure of what to do next.  
‘You can remain at my house tonight, my dear,’ said the dowager, ‘you will be safe.’  
After another heinous glance at his wife, Alconbury left the house.  
Laure looked at her mother-in-law with new eyes. She had not expected help to come from her, she was such a sticker for good behaviour and convention, she could not understand why she proposed to offer a roof to a self-confessed adulterer. She looked at Alex and saw that he too was dumfounded.  
Sir Henry and Lady Isobel made hurried excuses and took their leave, pleading a long and tiring evening. Lord Asquith wavered, he had already heard this story from Lord Trewin, but his wife had convinced him that it couldn’t be true. Now of course, the source of the story could not possibly be doubted. Lady Asquith recovered from her shock and addressed herself to Yannick:  
‘Your lovely daughter had charmed us when she came to Westmoor Abbey. I am sorry I did not receive her when she came to see her mother at our London house. I listened to my son Ashley who advised me not to, and I should have known better than to listen to him. I suppose she told you of her altercation with him; Nicholas told me. I am deeply ashamed of my younger son. I am so very sorry.’  
Lord Asquith lifted an eyebrow, ‘what altercation? What are you talking about Anabelle?’  
‘Nothing to worry about, my Lord. It’s forgotten,’ said Yannick quickly, silently cursing the woman for bringing that unpleasant incident to attention.  
Lord and Lady Asquith took their leave in turn and the family were now on their own with Alexis. She was looking wan and close to tears now that the drama had unfolded. William and Georgiana were looking completely lost. The tale about Alexis was known to them but to find out the whole story as well as the true identity of Laure’s brother was a shock. The dowager looked like a cat who has just licked the cream off a cake. She sat down and tapped the place next to her with her eyes on Yannick. He obeyed, too glad to sit down.  
‘You are lucky that I took to you straight away. Probably because your children and my grand-children adore you. But of course, your behaviour with Lady Alconbury was most reprehensible. You should never have courted a married woman and she should have resisted. But two wrongs don’t make one right and for her husband and brother to take it out on an innocent babe was despicable.’ She looked at Alexis, ‘Society will judge you harshly, my dear. It is out now; you cannot turn back. I will give you shelter for a while, but you will need to find some permanent arrangement sooner rather than later.’  
‘I will, my lady. I will not stay longer than one night or two and I can’t thank you enough for offering me this temporary shelter. I shall write to my father first thing and I know that he will not close his door to me. He has never liked my husband and has hinted several times that I should come and live with him if things got too difficult to bear.’  
Yannick asked the dowager: ‘Did you still like me even after I stood up against you at Christmas, your ladyship?’  
‘You’ve got spirits, I like that. Mrs. Owen thinks the world of you. She told me how you saved the lives of those unfortunate children and how much money you are spending for their education. Of course, I did not know who you were. I judged you on your good deeds and on the fact that my honourable son values your friendship.’  
‘I thank you, my lady. I did not realise that you knew Mrs. Owen.’  
‘I know everyone in the parish and everything that happens.’  
He saw Georgiana lift her eyes upwards and blow her cheeks. In different circumstances, he might have grinned, but not tonight. He felt a sense of dread thinking of the future. He was not worried by Alconbury’s threats, he was worried that his peace and quiet might be shattered when the scandal came out. Sir Henry and Lady Isobel looked like the kind of people one could trust to spread gossips and Lord and Lady Asquith who knew he lived in Cornwall would be able to discover his borrowed name easily.  
Ethan was not going to like it one little bit, he thought unhappily. Still he couldn’t really resent Alexis for publicly clearing up his name of the rape charge, now could he. Ironically though, the stories which had died down were probably going to surface again now. There would be some who’d say that even if he was exonerated from the crime of rape, it did not mean that the other accusations were false too.  
The dowager called her housekeeper and asked her to have a room ready for Lady Alconbury. She also ordered that her herbal tea be served.  
Alexis had not spoken again, she remained dignified but ill at ease still. She avoided looking at Yannick. She saw his discomfort; he was not happy with tonight’s outcome. She thought mistakenly that it had something to do with Nick, that he was afraid that she’d make demand to access the boy. She wanted to reassure him, tell him that she knew she had no right whatsoever over the child, did not deserve to hear him call her his mother, but his sullen expression stopped her from doing so.  
They felt tired, all of a sudden, it was late and Laure was showing signs of weariness as well as pain. Alex, who had been surprised at his mother’s unexpected compliment, noticed and signalled that they should be on their way. The dowager acquiesced, Georgiana and William made ready to leave too. Georgiana had recognised her mother’s signal when she had ordered her herbal tea to be served: they must not outstay their welcome.  
They did not speak in the carriage during the short journey back from Hanover Square to Grosvenor Square, keeping themselves to themselves about the extraordinary events that had taken place tonight. Alex thought wryly that although his mother’s scheming to get Laure speaking again with Alexis had been successful, it had not delivered the result she had been expecting, far from it.  
Her offer to shelter Alexis had surprised him beyond words: he did not know her as well as he thought finally, she was able to put aside her stiff principles to help a friend in need after all.  
Laure, for her part, started to feel guilty for talking so freely to Alexis and encouraging her to retake control of her life: she had never imagined that this was the way that Alexis would do it. Maybe she did it this way to stop her being tempted to change her mind later: there was no chance of this now. Alconbury would never forgive her.  
Yannick thoughts were about Ethan: he hoped that his lover was not waiting up for him tonight, he did not feel like having to tell him that his identity could be revealed to all and sundry with unforeseeable consequences on their future lives.  
The house was silent when they got home, and Yannick slipped in his bed alone and relieved to be so. He slept fitfully, but enough to be fairly well rested by morning. 

As he came down the stairs next morning, he was met half-way down by John who was coming to inform him that he was expected in the drawing room where Sir William Armitage and Robert were waiting for him, Alex and Laure to receive them: they had news. The children, with Ethan and Louis, were breaking their fast in the dining room.  
Sir William gave them the latest information on his case. On the previous day, the servant who had left Colonel Harrods’ service had spoken about parties with one or two selected friends present in which very young boys had been exhibited dressed as little cherubs. The servant had been told to dispose of the boys after the parties, abandoning them at the door of workhouses. He remembered the children, drugged and in tears, and dressed in rags. He also remembered how two of them had not survived after the men had finished with them. The colonel had ordered their bodies to be thrown in the river. The servant named the two closest friends of the colonel. He had not been privy to what had happened during the parties, but one of the footmen also interrogated had revealed that he had once heard a child cries and screams coming from the room. The footman had not said anything, he had not been supposed to be near the room in the first place, but the screams had haunted him. Other servants had spoken too. They had cleared up the mess in the room after the parties. They spoke of a bed in a corner, of the blood, facies and sperm marks on the sheets. Most of them were relieved to speak it seemed. The colonel, his butler and his valet had ordered them to keep quiet about the goings on at the house by threatening their very lives if they talked. Sir William had managed to convince them that he could convict all three men for their crimes.  
Sir William and Robert had called at the colonel’s house after hearing the servants’ testimonies and had confronted him. The man had listened, standing to attention behind his desk, the colour slowly draining from his face as the darning facts were enumerated. Then, without warning, he had opened his drawer, picked up a pistol and shot himself in the mouth in front of their horrified eyes. Sir William suspected that the colonel had had a primed and loaded pistol at the ready in his desk for exactly this purpose, in case events did not turn out the way he hoped. He had chosen to die rather than to face the dishonour of a trial and a probable shameful death at the end of a rope.  
The butler and the valet had been marched off to prison. The journalist, who had been following Sir William relentlessly, was going to report the end of the story in tonight’s newspaper.  
Laure, Alex and Yannick were greatly relieved. The trial of the butler and the valet would not attract as much attention as the colonel’s would have done. Their crimes were of the more usual kind: they had helped their employers in exchange for money, plenty of it, apparently. Of course, the article would be much discussed, but the story would only last until the next one came out contrarily to the trial of a fallen war hero which could have lasted days and required their testimony too.  
Yannick just hoped that the next story to catch the readers’ attention would not be Alexis’s scandalous love affair with him…  
After Sir William and Robert’s departure, Ethan, Louis and the children walked in the drawing room, eager to find out the latest developments. They too were happy that the colonel had taken his own life, Ethan hoped that the two accomplices would be caught, but Yannick doubted it: in his mind he could imagine that the two men had left the country as soon as the first article had been published. After all, that’s what he had done, all those years ago, run rather than face his accusers.  
The conversation soon changed to the subject that Yannick did not want to talk about, last night’s dinner party. Alex told the children that it had gone very well, that his mother had surprised them all and got out of her way to be kind. He did not say to who. Then he suggested a walk to the park because the weather was fine, and Nicky had asked to go to the Pond. Laure begged to be exempt, she was still tired. Louis was returning to his mother’s house to keep her informed, Yannick noticed a quick exchange between Laure and Louis and because of louis’ stunned expression, he understood that she had, in a few words, kept him up to date with last night’s happenings. Ethan was keen to go out, Yannick could see that. He hesitated, then he accepted.  
The weather was indeed fine. The four youngsters walked on ahead, arms in arms while the three men followed more slowly to accommodate Nicky. Yannick was holding his hand and had no intention of letting him go despite the boy’s obvious wish to run behind the other four.  
‘I am sure he’s safe now, you know,’ remarked Ethan, ‘also who would risk snatching him with so many around to protect him.’  
‘I know, ’grumbled Yannick, ‘only last night Lord Asquith remarked on it. He had never met me before, but he understood straight away how protective I was.’  
Ethan frowned, ‘Lord Asquith? Is it not at his house that Charley went to meet her mother?’  
Yannick cleared his throat, ‘It is yes. Charley told you this, did she?’  
Ethan laughed. ‘Well, who else? You seem to have ‘forgotten’ to mention this visit to me.’  
‘I did not go!’ He exclaimed on the defensive. ‘So many things have happened since, it slipped my mind.’  
Ethan laughed even more, joined in by Alex and eventually by Yannick when he realised how ridiculous his poor excuses were.  
Their laugher got some of the palpable tension out. They had reached the entrance of the park and Nicky was by now tucking impatiently at his father’s hand to be allowed to run ahead. Yannick gave in. There were few people about, and Nick was in between the adolescents and their fathers, he was being ridiculous, nothing bad could happen here.  
‘So, did Lord Asquith guess who you were? and who else was at the party?’ Asked Ethan.  
‘Well, he certainly knew by the time the party ended. Rather abruptly, I must say.’ He paused. ‘Alexis and her husband were there.’  
Ethan gasped. ‘Of all the people in London! Did your mother intend to embarrass Ian?’ He asked Alex.  
‘Actually, no. She intended to embarrass Laure and it backed fired terribly. She did not know who Ian was before the party…’  
‘And after???’  
‘Oh, after, she knew all right.’  
Ethan was silent, no doubt pondering on the implications of what he had just learnt. No wonder Yannick had looked unhappy this morning. He must have been wondering how to broach this interesting bit of news with him.  
‘It might not come out after all, you know,’ said Alex, ‘Alconbury is very arrogant and he will not want the world to know he was cuckolded and worse, that his wife conceived a child with her lover while she did not with him.’  
‘That as may be,’ said Yannick, ‘but there were other witnesses. Sir Henry and Lady Isobel, Lord and Lady Asquith.’  
‘I think Alconbury will put pressure on Sir Henry and Lady Isobel; Sir Henry defended colonel Harrods vehemently, remember, he will wish to lay low now. There might be some rumours, but there are always wild rumours circulating about something or other in the Ton. Now, Lord and Lady Asquith, you will have to use your charm to gain them to your cause, that’s all.’  
Yannick huffed. ‘They are returning to Devon the day after tomorrow, same day as we are. It does not leave me much time to gain them to my cause, furthermore they could have talked already.’  
‘Write to them when we get home and invite them to travel with you. At least up to Plymouth. That will give you a few days to charm them.’  
Yannick stopped walking: ‘You mean a few hours in the evening in overcrowded Posting houses. After a long day tossed in coaches, no one could achieve anything in these conditions! You vastly overrate my supposed charm, brother!’  
‘I wanted to leave telling you until the last moment, but circumstances dictate otherwise. I regret it, really. In my dream, I would have instructed your coachman to take the road east along the quays instead of west to leave London, and I would have stood by the gangway to see your face when you’d realise that ‘Halcyon’ was ready to sail. It’s all spoilt now;’ he looked at Yannick’s face then added mischievously, ‘may be not that spoilt after all!!!’ He laughed.  
Yannick found it impossible to utter a word. His mouth was open and his throat tight, he knew his eyes were far too bright. He hugged Alex for a while and eventually managed to get a heartfelt ‘thank you’ out. After he had recovered, he said in wonder:  
‘You have a full crew? She really is ready to sail?’  
‘Not quite a full crew, no. I am missing a captain.’  
Ethan shook his head, laughing as well. His lover’s face was something else right now. The three of them were still standing up talking. The youngsters were quite far by now. Ethan had kept an eye out for them, he had seen how Max and Meredith had come back for Nicky and Max had settled the boy on Meredith’s shoulders.  
‘You can still go to the gangway and watch Charley’s and Meredith’s faces. I intend to play your game and not tell them. Honestly, Alex, I don’t know what to say to you, I am so happy, you’ve no idea. And you are right, it’s a good idea about inviting the Asquith. He said he was dreading the journey back to Devon, he does not like coaches any more than I do.’  
‘I know, I heard. I think he’ll be grateful to you. Now, we should hurry, gentlemen, they have already passed the Italian gardens, they will be ready to leave the Pond by the time we get there if we dally any longer.’  
By the time they did reach the Pond, Max had already rigged his little boat and Nick was pushing it gently on the water. Charley watched it, reminiscing of that lovely summer day when they had first met. She had discovered a family that day. She had not known before just how much she had missed out having only Papa and Meredith. And on that particular day, when she had found out about their existence, Papa had walked in, with, in his arms, a dirty, skinny, street urchin and told her he was her brother. She looked at him now: healthy, mischievous, and happy. She had let Max rig his little boat, she had laughed and told him he had not made much progress in two and half years and he had laughed too and threatened to push her into the Pond just to check if she really could swim. They were having fun, but so often with Charley, she lost herself in her memories of that wonderful London summer where good memories had been overshadowed by others, terrible ones, well before the summer was over.  
Much later, back at the house, the adults had read the article relating the dramatic end of the kidnapping story with the suicide of the colonel. It also mentioned that the colonel’s close friends would be interrogated about the kind of links they’d had with the man. That comforted their thought that Sir Henry Harley would wish to lie low for a while and make himself scarce.  
Yannick took the time to write a note to Lord Asquith inviting him to sail with them on the ‘Halcyon’ on the 12th. He also received a note which left him thoughtful for a while before he put himself together again. Otherwise they had a quiet evening, each of them conscious that it was the last but one that they’d enjoy together and that it would probably be a few weeks or months before they met again.  
Charley had been unusually quiet. She had looked at her father thoughtfully a few times without saying anything. Ethan had noticed and he remarked on it to Yannick. Seeing the girl alone by the piano shuffling through some music sheets, he joined her and whispered:  
‘Something’s the matter, Matelotte? Or is it just leaving that’s bothering you?’  
‘I was thinking earlier by the Pond about the last time we were there. I don’t want to bring unhappy memories back to the fore, Papa, you explained most of what happened at the time and I am grateful to you, but I wonder if you think of Hadrian sometimes? I mean, I did not get to say goodbye and I don’t even know where he is buried. I had meant to ask you before, but with everything that has happened and with Ethan’s arrival, well, it did not seem appropriate.’  
Yannick put his arm over his daughter’s shoulders and whispered too:  
‘Of course, I think of him. I loved him; nothing can take that away,’ he grinned, ‘I like your saying ‘most of what happened’, some things must remain private, you’ll understand soon enough. Would you like me to take you to Hadrian’s grave tomorrow?’  
Her eyes widened: ‘Yes, please. You know where it is?’  
‘I do. We’ll go after lunch. Ask Meredith if he wants to accompany us. I will tell Ethan though; how will you feel if he wishes to come too?’  
‘Fine. And Meredith will say yes.’  
Yannick nodded: ‘That’s sorted then. I have to be somewhere in the morning so we will go early after lunch because we should be home before Miss Alison Evans arrives.’  
Charley smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. He hugged her back, then left her to return to the others.  
Yannick and Ethan had a lot to talk about that night. Ethan had got the gist of the previous evening events from the discussion they’d had with Laure and Alex. What he did not have was how Yannick felt about seeing again a woman he had loved passionately and who was the mother of his son. Ethan had always been jealous of the attention that his lover received from women. He saw how they looked at him, how attracted they were by his good looks and charisma. He heard what women said about him in the village or in the pub when he called to visit his family; they spoke freely in front of him, what he had heard left him in no doubts that Yannick could have any one of them if he chose to. 

As soon as the door of his room was closed behind them, Yannick spoke:  
‘I know what you are concerned about. I don’t care about Alexis any longer, seeing her again did not revive the love I had for her. At one point in my life, I wanted revenge for the hurt I suffered because of her, but not any longer either. She asked for my forgiveness, nothing more. I was going to leave London without ever seeing her again, but I’ve thought about it and I am going to go and see her tomorrow. Now, I do realize that you might not like this…, ’he let out a big sigh, ‘the Dowager Countess has sent me a note today to say that Alexis’s father will be coming at lunch time to take her away to his house in Richmond, and you see I reflected on what the Dowager told me that evening, that I acted wrongly at Kamorta: that I had been wrong to court Alexis and to seduce her, wrong to get her pregnant. The dowager is right: I could easily have kept away from Alexis, instead I courted her, I was vain, sure of my power of seduction and after I fell for her, I got angry when she refused to follow me, it hurt my pride. She was wise not to, I realise that now. Laure told me that she asked what Nicky was like. I let Julia meet Charley even though I disliked it, I should not treat Alexis differently. I will take him to see her tomorrow and I will give her the miniature portrait Meredith painted for me at Christmas. I spoke to him and he promised to paint another.’  
‘You are doing the right thing. I know you are. Forgive me, I can be so jealous at time. Is she still as beautiful as she was?’  
Yannick grinned: ‘You oaf! As if a woman could satisfy me in bed!’ He kissed Ethan hungrily then said, ‘especially after knowing you; will you submit to me tonight, lover, will you let me show you how much I crave for you, love you?’  
‘Yes, anything you want.’  
Afterwards, Ethan thought idly that he had to get up and go back to his own room, but Yannick’s body was half wrapped on top of his, with his arm tight around his waist and already asleep. Just a little while longer, he thought, and he drifted to sleep too. They slept deeply; they did not even heard John when he came in at 7 o’clock to rekindle the fire.  
11th January 1819  
Yannick woke up first. He felt the heat of Ethan’s body cuddled against his own. It felt so good, so right. He nudged himself closer still, giving Ethan a gentle kiss on his throat. Ethan’s eye lids fluttered, and he too opened his eyes and saw his lover smiling at him. A few seconds to emerge totally then:  
‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be here.’  
‘I’m not. We are very cosy like this.’  
Ethan sat up in bed, his eyes widened when he looked at the brightly lit fire in the fireplace:  
‘Did you add logs during the night?’  
Yannick chuckled: ‘Of course not. John must have done it.’  
Ethan swallowed: ‘Then he saw us. In bed. Together, like this. Naked.’ His eyes widened, horrified.  
‘Ethan, we sleep in the same bedroom at the manor and John rekindle the fire every morning in the winter. What’s different?’  
‘Curtains.’ He stammered, ‘your bed has curtains all around. John cannot see who is in the bed!’  
This time Yannick laughed outright: ‘You take him for a fool, I object to that, he is bright. Furthermore, he used to be Hadrian’s valet and wait on us at Hadrian’s London House and at Rosemarkie. I told you before that he knew about me anyway.’  
‘But not about me,’ grumbled Ethan.  
Yannick gave him a peck on the cheek and said: ‘Look, we were mostly buried under bed clothes anyway. At best he saw I slept with a blond,’ he couldn’t resist teasing Ethan who he thought was being ridiculous, ‘maybe he’ll conclude that I enticed Alex to my bed. After all I have been spending a lot of time with him lately…, why just…, ’he did not finish, Ethan pushed a pillow over his face and attempted vainly to keep it there, at least he managed to shut him up…  
Eventually, they came down for breakfast. Laure was having breakfast in bed. The cousins were not yet up, apparently, they had a very late night, said Alex, who was just finishing his own breakfast. Nicky had been first to come down and eat. The nursery maid had supervised him, but he enjoyed eating on his own in the morning. Soft boiled eggs were his favourite, next came porridge. The maid reported to Yannick that he had both this morning, he was back in the nursery now, impatiently waiting to be dressed up for going out with Papa, he had said.  
‘We’ll go in one hour or so, if you could tell his maid.’ He called a footman and told him he also needed the phaeton to be made ready.  
He was washed and shaved. John had attended to him as usual. Ethan’s words had got him thinking about John. He decided to ask:  
‘I Know how attached to Lord Vernon you were, John, I hope that my relationship with Dr Treeve does not upset you, I know you have guessed that we are more than friends.’  
‘It would have upset me if His Lordship was still in this world, sir. I like Dr Treeve,’ John smiled, ‘I like the way he tries to pretend to me that you both are only friends.’  
Yannick laughed. ‘Let’s give him the illusion that he’s succeeded, shall we? There’s something else, this afternoon I shall visit Hadrian’s grave with the children, would you like to come with us?’  
‘Thank you, sir, but no. I went on my own last week. I removed a bunch of dead roses from the grave, and put a fresh bunch of flowers myself. They’re probably dead too now. I spoke to a footman at the house when I called to find out where he was resting, they told me that the family never goes to flower the tomb. They did not know any of them who are buried there. Sad isn’t it?’  
‘It is yes. My sister pointed the new Lord to me at church the other morning, he looks a decent sort of man. I hope he takes after Hadrian.’  
‘So, do I, sir, so do I.’  
‘John, you do know that Mary is not returning with us. If you wished to stay in London yourself, I am sure that a position could be found for you at Mrs. Owen’s house, she is going to recruit personnel. I don’t want you to feel obliged to me.’  
‘I’d rather go back to Cornwall, sir, if you still want me, that is.’  
‘I definitely want you, John. I just wondered how close you were to Mary, that’s all.’  
John smiled: ‘Not that close, sir, if I understood your meaning correctly,’ he hesitated then said, ‘I enjoy talking to a widow, in Porthdowns, Sir, I would miss her greatly if I stayed in London.’  
‘Good for you, John. We will be home soon.’

Nicky was very pleased to go out alone with Papa. It had not happened in London same as it did back home because here, there was always someone wanting to come with them, and he so enjoyed having Papa just for himself. They went in a phaeton. That hardly ever happened in Cornwall, Papa walked or rode with him, not take a phaeton. A pity they arrived so quickly. Nicky told Papa who promised to take a longer route back to the house later.  
Yannick and Nicky were introduced in the sitting room by the butler. Alexis was sitting down and by the look on her face when she saw the newcomers, she had not been warned that they were going to call. Yannick had in fact only sent a note to the Dowager first thing in the morning to tell her that he would follow her advice and call at her house with Nicky before Alexis’s father took her away with him.  
He bowed to the ladies and Nicky did too, staying quietly close to his father. The Dowager Countess had impressed him at Christmas. He had been told that she was an important lady and that he had to be on his very best behaviour at her house. His eyes wandered to the other lady. She was not so impressive; she was watching him with tears in her eyes. He could not understand why: he had done nothing to upset this lady, he had never seen her before in his life.  
Papa walked up to the lady and he asked Nick if he would not mind giving her a kiss. He gave her a smile first, then a kiss on the cheek, to make her feel better. The lady took him in her arms, in the way that aunt Laure did, and hugged him. She smelt nice, he liked her hair colour, it was just like his own. When she released him, he frowned though, the tears in her eyes were worse now, that was not how it was supposed to work, she was crying now.  
Papa sat down next to her and offered his handkerchief to the lady, Nick stood between them, then she took his hands in hers and asked him questions, his name, his age, what he liked to do, so he was pleased to tell her all about his pony, his building blocks, the piano lessons he was going to start, he told her he knew his numbers and his letters, that he wanted to learn to draw like Meredith too. She listened, seemed to be eating his words and Papa made no gesture to stop him talking, which was good. You never quite knew when to stop with grown-ups, although Papa nearly never asked him to stop.  
A footman came and brought tea and cakes and he was quiet while he ate his. He was careful to eat properly; he was in owe of the Dowager Countess who was also eating a cake and drinking tea. It would not do to spill some tea or crumbs on her lovely carpet, he had to make Papa proud for taking him out and not let him down. He looked at Papa: he was smiling at him, he was pleased.  
Papa did not talk much to the lady, or the Dowager, he let Nick answer the ladies, let the sad lady hold him in her arms again, and kiss him tenderly. Then Papa got up and told the ladies they had to take their leave. Nick received another hug and kiss, then she let him go. He bowed to the Dowager, same as Papa. He saw Papa give the sad lady a small package wrapped in silk paper before he took his leave of her.  
They walked out of the house at the same time than a man alighted from his carriage outside the door. Papa and the man looked at each other and bowed slightly, the man then looked at Nicky for a while and Papa let him. Then the man went to the door which had just opened for him.  
Nicky jumped in the phaeton, Yannick ordered the coachman to go down Bond street to Piccadilly and then return to Grosvenor Square going through Berkeley square. Nicky was quiet all the way, concentrating on the view. They passed Hadrian’s house. They were home in no time after that, it was but a short distance from Berkeley Square.  
Nicky was happy, and full of it. Aunt Laure was downstairs so he could tell her all about his visit. He knew they were leaving tomorrow; he was going to miss them all. Mary was staying in London had said Papa, it would be strange at home without Mary. But he was looking forward to meeting Miss Evans later today.

Nicky was not too unhappy at seeing Papa go out in Uncle Alex’s coach after lunch with Charley, Meredith and Ethan. He had seen that their own coach was being prepared in the stable for tomorrow’s departure. Aunt Laure had said she’d like to spend that last afternoon with him alone because it was going to be the last time for a while. So, he smiled and agreed that it would be nice to spend time with her; from tomorrow, he was going to spend all day in the coach and he was not too happy about it. Papa had showed him a map and explained what it was for and where London was, and Rosemarkie too. He said that every night he would show Nick how far they had travelled.  
Just as he had done before his first visit, Yannick stopped the coach at Covent Garden Market to buy flowers. He had managed to buy red roses the last time, they had come from a hot house and he had been very lucky to have found some to purchase. This time, there weren’t any in the shop, but the seller suggested a pot of Christmas Hellebore, they would last throughout winter the seller said. Yannick accepted and bought two pots.  
The name Hellebore had reminded him of a poem he had learnt a long time ago at college. He had not known at the time that the hellebore was a winter flower, but he had known that it was poisonous. The first part of the verse was strangely appropriate for how he had felt after Hadrian’s death: “Souvent notre bonheur malgré nous s’évapore, Et nous aurions besoin, tous d’un grain d’ellébore » by J.F Regnard, deeply sad though he was after losing his lover, he had not contemplated taking his own life as suggested in the verse, Nicky, Charley and Meredith had made him pull through, overcome his extreme pain and survive. Without them, he more than likely would have been very tempted to swallow ‘un grain d’ellébore’.  
They carried on to the cemetery. They stopped first beside aunt Henrietta’s tomb. What remained of Yannick’s roses were only thorny stalks and a few wet and discoloured petals, a sad sight indeed. He took them away and put the pot of hellebore on the stone slab in their place, hoping that they’d last longer. After spending a few minutes with their private thoughts, they moved on to Hadrian’s grave. John’s flowers, soaking wet and dead, had not fared any better than the roses had. Charley put the pot of hellebore in front of the plaque bearing Hadrian’s name. Before doing so she looked around at the names on the three other sides of the ugly monument.  
As they stood there in silence, Yannick felt Ethan’s uneasiness at the situation, he must be wondering why he had come, probably. Yannick linked his fingers to his, and squeezed them tight, they were wearing gloves, but he was sure that Ethan appreciated the gesture of reassurance.  
He felt guilty thinking back to his behaviour with Robert a few nights ago: how could he have been so foolish as to risk hurting this man who loved him for the sake of a few minutes of carnal gratification. He knew that Ethan’s insecurity stemmed from the fact that he thought that Yannick could one day be seduced by some handsome man of his own social rank and that he had asked Charley what Hadrian had looked like. She had shown him a portrait that Meredith had painted: Ethan had looked at the handsome face with sky blue eyes and long golden curls and Yannick had wondered if he had found himself wanting. He had not broached the subject with Ethan, not wanting him to know that Charley had mentioned this to her father. He thought about it now as they walked back quietly to the coach. Yannick did not let go of Ethan’s hand. There was no one about so Ethan did not object, he rather welcomed the attention.  
Back in the coach, Charley mentioned the other names on the monument. She had noticed that four of them had the same date of death in 1815, two of them young children. Did her father know about this? He answered, told her about the coach accident which had cost the lives of Lord Vernon, Hadrian’s father, of Hadrian’s elder brother and of his two young sons who had been in line to inherit the title before Hadrian. And of course, Hadrian himself had died within a year of them, wiping out all direct heirs of the family. She vaguely recalled seeing their portraits on the staircase wall at Hadrian’s house, now that she thought of it.  
‘What about his mother?’ asked Charley.  
‘She is still alive as far as I know. And his brother’s wife and daughter too, but females cannot inherit titles or property in normal circumstances, so they only had whatever pensions their husbands left them in their will.’  
‘Hadrian never mentioned his mother. Did he take good care of her?’  
‘No, he had nothing to do with her. They were estranged since he was thrown out of the house at fifteen. He never forgave her.’  
Charley’s eyes widened in surprise; she did not say anymore. She had not thought that Hadrian could be unforgiving somehow, then again, she did not know what his mother was like after all. 

They were glad to be home for refreshments. Miss Evans was due to arrive soon. She was expected at 5.00 and she was exactly on time. A footman carried her bags to the stable to be put in the coach with the family’s and her overnight bag was taken to a guest room. They sat down for tea. Miss Evans was introduced to the other members of the family. She had not met Meredith nor Nicky before. Nicky looked at her in wonder: he had never seen someone with a dark skin so near before. Her hair fascinated him, she smiled at him and told him that he could touch her hair if he wished. He did, he caressed her cheek too and told her that she was beautiful. He was rewarded with a kiss.  
The family dinner was to be earlier tonight, to give them time to enjoy a last after dinner get together which would not end too late because of their early departure next morning. Louis, Anna and Abigail had come to dine and say goodbye, they returned home afterwards, promising to come to France in May with Alex, Laure and the children. Later in the evening, while they were having a talk about their future plan for spring, Alison took Nick to the piano and gave him his first lesson. He was enchanted. Charley frowned and reckoned that she was going to have to share her new tutor with Nick a little more than she’d thought in the first place.  
For their last night in London, Yannick made it clear to Ethan that he did not want him to move out of his bed.  
‘We shall have no privacy at all on board ‘Halcyon’’ he said, ‘I want to make the most of you tonight.’  
‘You make the most of me every night.’ Huffed Ethan.  
‘Is that a complaint?’  
‘It is. Tonight, I will make the most of you.’  
Yannick did not answer, he just sighed contentedly and pulled Ethan to him for a kiss.

Translation: Often despite us our happiness evaporates and we could all do with a seed of hellebore


	21. epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> holidays' end

12th January 1819

Next morning, they found themselves around the table for a last family breakfast. Last promises were exchanged, Laure and Alex would soon move to Plymouth, they would be visiting Cornwall before May, time would pass very quickly. Alex was thoughtful, he said suddenly: ‘I wished you’d gone back to the docks to see how ‘Halcyon’ refitting was progressing,’ he sighed, ‘with everything that happened, I forgot to ask you if you wished to go again.’   
‘Yes, it’s a shame. We haven’t seen her since that first visit. I should have thought of it earlier.’  
‘Why not go this morning?’ Suggested Alex, deadpan, ‘I mean it would only be a little detour and you could just have a peek, no need to lose too much time.’  
Charley’s eyes brightened: ‘Oh, Papa, that’s a wonderful idea, after all it does not matter if we leave a little later, does it? We’ll always find a Posting House on the way surely?’  
Yannick pretended to think about it: ‘Oh, all right then, I admit I’d like to see the progress too. But we’ll not stay long mind?’  
‘No, not long at all. Oh, thank you Papa, you are the best.’ She exclaimed enthusiastically.  
‘No, I’m not,’ he said, ‘your uncle Alex is the best.’ She did not catch the wink he gave Alex.  
After a lot of kissing and waving, the coach eventually moved on. Charley was excited and at the same time worried that it was taking much longer to get to the docks than she thought. There was much traffic on the way, and she had not remembered that the ship was so far down the river. Papa was probably not going to let her go on board, arguing that they would lose too much time. She caught glimpses of the river as they travelled, but frustratingly they did not turn towards the quays to reach the ships. The forest of masts impressed her; she had not realised first time just how many ships were anchored here. The coach was moving slowly, she had never seen so much traffic, carts, waggons, all sorts of means of transport were moving in both directions, most heavily loaded.

At last, the coach turned toward the quays and it stopped soon after. Charley looked around, ‘Halcyon’ was just in front of her, she had moved since they had last seen her. She was farther down the river which explained the longer trip to get here. She hoped that Papa had known this and not cut the visit short because of the time they’d lost.   
As soon as the coachman opened the door, she jumped out, unladylike, would have said Abigail. She looked at the ship and noticed immediately that she was fully rigged, one man was walking on the gangway toward her, followed by two others. The man was looking at her father who had also approached. Papa held his hand out to him:  
‘Good morning, I am Ian Kermor. Master Irvine I presume, how do you do?’  
‘How do you do, sir, welcome on board.’ Master Irvine took Papa’s hand. Papa introduced her and the rest of his party who had come off the coach. Charley, whose eyes were on the ship and not seeing anything else, suddenly heard Meredith exclaim:  
‘Eh, what are you doing with our luggage?’ Then he looked at Yannick and saw him grin. The two sailors made their way over to the gangway, carrying their overnight bags and then Meredith realised that the coachman was taking the harnesses off the horses. He laughed, as understanding dawned on him.   
‘Oh, Papa, well done, well done!’ He said shaking his head with a huge smile on his face.  
Charley looked at her father’s ginning face and understood too. She yelped in joy and threw herself in his arms, kissing him, laughing and crying at the same time. Master Irvine watched it all, unsure of how to take this. He had been told only three days earlier by Lord Durfield, that his brother-in-law, Mr Ian Kermor with whom he shared ownership of the ‘Halcyon’, was going to sail her to Falmouth. He also told Master Irvine that Mr Kermor would captain the ship. Master Irvine had been disappointed by the news. He was an experienced master, ex Royal navy, and had hoped to be offered full command of the ‘Halcyon’. He knew nothing about Mr Kermor, at least Lord Durfield had been a frigate captain in the Royal navy and was highly spoken of. He could only hope for the best.   
Alison Evans was holding Nick’s hand, Yannick invited her and the others to come on board and visit their accommodation for the journey. Nick was more interested with what was happening with their coach than to come on board. He caught John’s hand as he was walking near and asked:  
‘What are they doing to our coach? Our boxes are still on it.’  
‘They will put it in the ship’s hold, the horses too, so we can go home with it after we land in Falmouth.’  
‘They can do that?’ Asked the child with wide eyes.  
‘Yes, they will use this crane, there. Come on board and watch.’  
Nick could not get on board fast enough this time. John made sure he was out of the way of the sailors as he watched the horses being led slowly on the gangway first and then the crane put into operation to lift the coach and take it down the hold. The operation had hardly finished when another coach stopped where theirs had been, and four people came out, an elderly couple and their servants. Master Irvine went to welcome his other passengers and was delighted to find that the gentleman was a retired admiral of the blue.

Yannick came back on deck after looking at the accommodation, noticing the new arrivals he went to them and welcomed them in turn. Master Irvine came to inform him that all was loaded and secure, the tide was turning, he said, and he did not want to lose the advantage of speed it would give his ship. Yannick thanked him, he asked to be introduced to the crew, then told Master Irvine that he had never sailed out of the Thames estuary and wished for him to take control of the ‘Halcyon’. Master Irvine bowed, relieved that his new unknown quantity captain was at least conscious of his lack of knowledge and not willing to risk his ship by too much pride. To know that Lord Asquith was his guest was also reassuring.  
Charley was still on deck, and so was Nick. The little boy was watching the sailors go up the ratlines and along the spars to release the sails. Master Irvine caught some of her words to the younger child: pointing out at some manoeuvres, she was explaining to him what the men were doing and why. He was startled by her knowledge and her obvious interest in what was going on. He gave orders to bring the gangway on board and release the ship. The tide was going out and so were they.  
Yannick watched the crew at work. He had checked that Charley and Nick were not in the way. Nick was standing near Charley and showed no intent on moving on. He went to stand near them: ‘What do you think? Do you like her? Will she do?’ He asked. She smiled and nodded. It was not “Danae”, of course not, but it was good nevertheless to be on board a large ship again after so long.   
Lord Asquith came to stand by them. Charley had greeted him and his wife rather coldly earlier, but not as much as Meredith had. In fact, Meredith had been nearly rude to them, he had also given Yannick a look that showed him clearly what he thought of having the couple travel with them to Falmouth.   
The other passengers remained in the lounge and watched the ship move away from the quays from the stern windows rather than standing in the cold like Charley and Nick. Meredith was not with them. He had withdrawn to his tiny box-like cabin without bothering with an explanation. Ethan had been surprised at the young man’s attitude, so out of character. No doubt that Yannick would offer an explanation if he knew, if not then he’d have to coax it out of Meredith.  
Charley and Nick finally came to the lounge with their father who had been informed by John that lunch was being served. He noticed immediately that Meredith was missing: he was not hungry, according to John who had gone and knocked at his door. Yannick excused himself and left the room. Ethan, who was sitting next to Charley whispered: ‘Do you know what this is about?’  
‘I do, yes, ’she replied.  
‘I’m afraid it’s our fault, sir,’ Lord Asquith answered, ‘we upset Meredith last week, or rather one of our sons did, and it seems that our apologies might not be enough.’  
‘Papa will sort it, Ethan, ’she gave him a warning look to let the matter drop.  
‘Good. Let’s see what the cook has prepared for us, shall we?’ Said Ethan and he lifted the cover on one of the dishes that John had brought on the table.  
Meredith had opened his door at his father’s request.   
‘Why did you invite them, Papa. I’d have rather travelled back alone by public coach if I had known they’d be on board.’  
‘Do you feel guilty or responsible for my sins?’  
‘Of course not. Why should I?’  
‘Exactly. So, why should they be guilty of their son’s?’  
‘That’s different and an unfair comparison. They brought him up.’  
‘Yes, and they brought up both their sons in the same way only Nicholas is a decent man and Ashley is a stupid ass. Lady Asquith had prejudices against me because of Lady Alexis and she has apologised to me, her husband did also. He apologised for not believing Lord Trewin and for Ashley’s insults toward you and me. If that is good enough for me, I can’t see why it’s not for you.’  
‘But why invite them to travel with us?’  
‘Ah, that’s because I want to coax them into not revealing who I am to anyone. At one point I thought that clearing my name from the rape allegation would free me from rumours, but of course it will not. There will always be rumours about my behaviour and it will put many people off, probably jeopardise our future life at Porthdowns if my identity is known. Ethan dreads it. So, It does not matter if the truth never comes out, it’s the price to pay if we want to live peacefully. You will find as you grow older that there is always a price to pay for the choices we make, ’he hesitated then continued. ‘You know, you can always move to Bath. No one ever need to know who brought up Jeremy Delaney.’  
Meredith gave him a smile as he shook his head: ‘Now Papa, that’s not an option that would have entered my head, ’and he hugged Yannick.  
They both returned to the lounge. Ethan noticed that their eyes were a little too bright, but he wisely followed Charley’s advice and said nothing. Meredith tucked to his food like everyone else. Miss Evans had watched the whole thing with curiosity. This family was even far more interesting than she had thought when she had taken on the post.

After lunch, the Asquith moved to their cabins for their afternoon nap. Nick insisted on going back on deck with Charley, and Miss Evans followed them. Before Ethan asked, Yannick explained what had happened in London and why Meredith was so upset. Ethan already knew why the Asquith were on board. He hoped that their plan was going to work. Then the two men went on deck to join the children and Miss Evans.  
‘Are you enjoying the cruise, Miss Evans?’ Asked Ethan.  
‘I am, thank you, Doctor, it’s my first time on a ship and I was a little anxious at the idea of seasickness. Do you think I could still get it, when we are properly at sea, that is?’  
‘Frankly, I don’t know. I hope not for your sake. You do know that we will be sailing on a much longer trip to France in May, don’t you?’  
‘Oh, yes. I was told during my interview. Miss Charlotte also mentioned a Grand tour sometime in the future.’  
‘Trust Charley to have pointed this out to you. I am surprised she has not mapped out our itinerary yet, ’said Yannick.  
He left them to talk further and approached Master Irvine; he was interested by the navigation on the Thames river. He asked questions on the difficulties specific to sailing on this long stretch of tidal river, impressed by the number of boats on the water, some sailing out like they were and others clawing their way against the tide at the end of their journey. They were obviously not the only ones who wished to gain time by sailing with the tide, Yannick had never realised that this river could be so busy.   
‘She is sailing well. You are getting the best out of her. Did you know the ship before?’  
‘No, sir, but I’ve sailed in some of her class since the war ended. I am well used to sailing the Thames. I heard your conversation earlier; you mean to take her to France in the spring?’  
‘Yes. That’s why ‘Halcyon’ was fitted with so many cabins. We mean to transport passengers as well as goods. We’d like to provide comfortable travel to Europe. Our ‘Perseus’ is a bigger ship with more cargo space, but ‘Halcyon’ will be more suitable to take us to Bordeaux.’  
‘Is that where you’ll be going? I’ve never been to France.’  
‘Our wine and brandy come from the South west. Blaye near Bordeaux is a good landing point nearest to my lands. My warehouse is in Blaye. ‘Perseus’ should be on her way back from there now. Do you know her commander?’  
‘Yes, sir, Captain Bolton recommended me for ‘Halcyon’. We sailed together in the Navy. He was Lord Durfield’s first lieutenant at Trafalgar, but he was seriously wounded and dismissed from the service after the war. Lord Durfield thought it was a shame because he was such a fine officer. I had served with him as master’s mate before he transferred to Lord Durfield’s ship.’  
‘Did your ship fight at Trafalgar too?’  
‘Yes, sir. I served on board HMS Leviathan as master’s mate and after the battle I was promoted to master on a frigate, the ‘Achilles’. She was sunk by ‘Constitution’ during the war with the United States. I was held prisoner for 6 months. When I returned to England, the navy did not need me any longer so I turned to merchant shipping, mainly coastal sailing until I met Captain Bolton by chance and he told me that Lord Durfield was looking for a master for his ship being under refit. I had enough of small coastal cruising to be honest, so I applied and his lordship took me on.’  
‘And your first cruise with ‘Halcyon’ is a coastal one. You must have been disappointed.’  
‘I believe it’s only temporary, sir. That is if you do intend to take her to France.’  
‘Oh, I do, yes, without a shadow of doubt. Lord Durfield and I want to make regular trips to France, Spain, the low countries, wherever we find clients wanting to ship their goods to. Meredith wants to export pilchards to Italy, I know. There will always be wine and brandy to bring back. I’d like to have passengers on board too.’  
Master Irvine was silent for a while, Yannick guessed that he was dying to ask questions but did not dare.   
‘You do know that I am French, don’t you?’  
‘Yes, sir. Lord Durfield told me you were his brother-in-law. I believe her ladyship’s family sought refuge in England during the French uprising.’  
‘Only my father and sister did come to England. I did not, I fought for my country. I think it’s only right that you should be told this.’  
Master Irvine looked a little startled: ‘You and Lord Durfield seem to be at peace with each other. May I ask if it’s for her ladyship’s sake?’  
Yannick laughed. ‘Not at all. I value Alex greatly, in fact we’ve become close friends, this maritime adventure could not have started if we were not. I am glad that I did not know he had married my beloved sister during the war and even more glad that we did not meet at sea.’   
Irvine hesitated before asking: ‘Could you have?’  
‘Only at Trafalgar.’   
Irvine coughed.   
‘I commanded a frigate, from Dumanoir’s squadron. I disobeyed his orders and tried to engage, unfortunately I was seriously wounded, and my first lieutenant preferred to go back to Cadiz, ’he sighed, ‘I suppose he saved my life; it took me years to acknowledge this and forgive him though.’  
‘Do you think it would have made a difference, sir, I mean, if Admiral Dumanoir had engaged his squadron?’  
‘I doubt it. More deaths, more maimed men, that’s about all. At last my ship was not with Dumanoir’s squadron when he was defeated later. Useless man. He should never have been given his command. Anyway, it’s all history now. Actually, I’ll have you know that the 21st of October is a date I celebrate every year,’ he smiled at Irvine’s puzzled expression, ‘it is my daughter’s birthday. So, it’s definitely a day to celebrate.’  
‘I couldn’t agree more with you. She is an exceptional young lady. She knows a lot about ships too. I heard her explain manoeuvres to your younger son.’  
‘She was brought up on board my ship. She has sailed around the world, you know. Passed the cape of Good hope and the dreaded Cape Horn too. Nor many girls her age can boast this.’  
‘To be sure. I can’t! Do you hope that your son will become a sailor too?’  
‘No. I’d like him to stay home and look after his old father, ’he grinned, ‘I want him happy, so he will be free to choose. I will make sure though that he knows how lucky he is to be able to choose contrarily to so many who can’t.’  
‘Your other son does not seem to want to become a sailor. He has not parted with his drawing pad since we’ve set sail.’  
‘Meredith never parts with his drawing pad. I bet that before tomorrow’s out he will have sketched everyone on board.’  
Meredith looked up from his post aft and smiled, as if he had known they were talking about him. The weather turned colder and Yannick enticed the children, Ethan and Miss Evans to get back to the warm lounge. As they were walking into the lounge, Miss Evans asked:  
‘I wondered about something, you are not using the same name on board than at his lordship’s house, how should I call you, Mr. de Courcelles or Mr. Kermor?’  
‘Mr. Kermor, please. It’s simpler and it’s the name I use in Cornwall. It was my mother’s maiden’s name and I thought that I would be better accepted just after the war with a simple English name. But in London, everyone knew that my sister was Melle de Courcelles before her marriage so it would have seemed odd for her brother to use another name.’  
‘Thank you, does it mean that in Cornwall they don’t know you are a French Count?’  
‘It does. I like to be plain Mr. Kermor. Less fuss, and I hate fuss. You don’t mind, do you?’  
‘Not at all. I was curious, nothing more.’  
John came in to lite the lamps. He had insisted on attending to their needs during the journey and Yannick was grateful. He had noticed that the ship was short-handed, and it would have depleted the crew further if a sailor had to bring their food or see to their comfort. The Asquith were looked after by their valet and lady’s maid. The coachmen and grooms, Yannick suspected, were busy calming the horses which were not used to sea travel. One of them had been reluctant to walk on the gangway and a groom had to put a blind on him to get him across. He hoped that the weather would not be too rough for the poor animals, January was not the best time of the year for sea travel.  
Lord and lady Asquith came and joined them. They had quite a long nap, apparently the ship movements had help lulled them to sleep. Lord Asquith came to sit by Yannick’s side and whispered:  
‘Do you mind if we travel all the way to Falmouth with you instead of landing at Plymouth? I’d like to visit Lord Trewin.’  
‘Of course not. Richard and Amber will be pleased to see you. I’ll inform Master Irvine tomorrow.’  
‘I did not tell you earlier, but about the other matter: Sir Henry and lady Isobel have retired to the country, they left as soon as they heard about Colonel Harrods, on the day following the dinner. I suspect they had also received a letter from Alconbury asking them to keep silent about the happenings of the evening.’  
‘Also? Did you get one, my lord?’  
‘I did, yes. The official version is that lady Alconbury is retiring to Richmond to look after her father who is unwell. Sir Sidney Lovejoy is getting married to a very rich heiress in May and nothing must upset this plan.’  
‘Has Alconbury a good reason to see this marriage happening?’  
‘The best in the world: the girl’s father holds an important position at the foreign office and Alconbury hopes to get a lucrative posting abroad thanks to him. So, you see he will want to avoid a scandal at all cost.’  
‘It’s all for the best then. Alexis will be rid of him and free to return to London if she so wishes. It ends well.’  
Lord Asquith frowned: ‘Except for you. Your name is still not cleared. I thought you’d care.’  
Yannick looked straight in the older man’s eyes: ‘I’d like to let sleeping dogs lie, to be honest. If my name comes up again, even to absolve me of this wrongdoing, it will leave the other allegations standing and I have no doubt that someone or other will recall them. My attempts to keep Charley and Meredith unaware of the accusations failed miserably, I’ve had a lot of explaining to do, I’d rather be forgotten than to have to deny or explain other claims on my character to my children.’   
‘You are wise. And right too. The incident with Meredith and my son shows just what kind of dirt could be stirred. You can count on my wife and myself to be silent. Do you have any idea though of who wants to harm you and why?’  
‘At first, I thought of my father, but now I don’t think so. I think it is jealousy or resentment. I know I made enemies, one in my youth and one officer on board Danae for sure; I just don’t know who hates me most.’  
‘Your relationship with your father must be pretty low indeed if you even considered him to be guilty.’  
‘I have hated him for years, but not anymore. Now I just don’t care about him. You did well to patch things up with Ashley, maybe he will see reason one day.’  
Lord Asquith smiled sadly; he was obviously far from convinced. Master Irvine came to speak to Yannick, did the captain agree that it was time to drop anchor for the night?  
Yannick felt embarrassed; he had not taken his duties as captain seriously. He knew that Alex had suggested it because he wanted him to test Master Irvine’s abilities rather than anything else. Yannick had seen straight away that the man was good at his job. The ship was run efficiently, and his crew trusted him and were cheerful. He told Master Irvine to carry on as if he wasn’t there. Irvine looked pleased. Yannick would tell him in Falmouth that the captaincy was his. They would also recruit more sailors.  
Nicky came in and asked to sit on his father’s lap. Yannick was only too pleased to have him. The young child rested his head on his father’s shoulder and immediately closed his eyes. Charley snorted:   
‘I told him he should have a nap. Now he’s going to miss dinner.’  
‘I’ll wake him up or he’s going to be a nuisance all night.’  
‘I…never a…nuisance…,’ answered Nicky in a sleepy voice.  
Charley and Yannick laughed. They exchanged a knowing look. Lord Asquith envied them; he had never been as close to his children when they were young. But then, of course he had been at sea and had missed them growing up. He thought of Yannick’s words regarding Ashley, maybe he could try and understand him more and if he still could not like him, showing a little more love might help ease the relationship.  
The evening passed quickly, and they retired to bed early, the day had been long and the sea air tired them all, Yannick included. His cabin was next to Ethan’s; he could nearly hear him breathe through the thin partition. He heard Lord Asquith snores, and his lady. He heard Charley giggle, her cabin was next to Meredith, no doubt he had found an amusing thing to say. Nick had no nightmare and slept soundly. Yannick sighed contentedly and fell asleep as well: the London holiday was over, the truth had been revealed to people who mattered to him, he had also saved children and helped to punish criminals. A good time after all said and done then.


End file.
